DAYLIGHTING

by Gregg D. Ander, FAIA

Southern California Edison
Updated by U.S. Department of Energy Federal
Energy Management Program (FEMP)
Updated:
09-15-2016

INTRODUCTION
• Day lighting is the controlled admission of natural light, direct sunlight, and diffused-skylight
into a building helps in reducing electric lighting and saving energy.
• Day lighting helps in reducing as much as one-third of total building energy costs.
• A day lighting system is comprised not just of daylight apertures, such as skylights and
windows, but is coupled with a daylight-responsive lighting control system. (When there is
adequate ambient lighting provided from daylight alone, this system has the capability to
reduce electric lighting power)
• Further, the fenestration, or location of windows in a building, must be designed in such a way
as to avoid the admittance of direct sun on task surfaces or into occupants' eyes.
 DESCRIPTION
• A day lighting system consists of systems, technologies, and architecture. While not all of
these components are required for every day lighting system or design, one or more of the
following are typically present:

1. Daylight-optimized building footprint

2. Climate-responsive window-to-wall area ratio
3. High-performance glazing
4. Day lighting-optimized fenestration design
5. Skylights (passive or active)
6. Tubular daylight devices
7. Daylight redirection devices
8. Solar shading devices
9. Daylight-responsive electric lighting controls
10. Daylight-optimized interior design (such as furniture design, space planning, and room
surface finishes).

• Since day lighting components are normally integrated with the original building design, it
may not be possible to consider them for a retrofit project.
 Consider : a building footprint that
• maximizes south and north exposures,
• and minimizes east and west exposures.
• A floor depth of no more than 60 ft
• A maximum facade facing due south is the optimal
orientation. DAY LIGHT WINDOW
• Deviation from due south should not exceed 15° in
either direction for best solar access and ease of control.
With the building sited properly, the next consideration is to VIEW WINDOW
develop a climate-responsive window-to-wall area ratio.

The window area needs to be a careful balance between

admission of daylight and thermal issues such as
wintertime heat loss and summertime heat gain.

WINDOW
The window has two essential functions in a day lit building:
(1) daylight delivery or admittance,
(2) provision of view to the occupants.
The former dictates a glazing with a very high visible light transmittance (commonly abbreviated as
VLT, or Tvis), the latter merely needs to be clear, and, in fact, should have a relatively low Tvis to
prevent glare.
As a general rule, the higher the window head height, the deeper into the space the daylight can
penetrate.
Therefore, good day lighting fenestration practice dictates that the window should ideally be
composed of two discrete components: a daylight window and a view window.
• The daylight window should start at 7 ft., 6 in. above the finished floor at a minimum and have a
high Tvis (50% to 75%);
• the view window should be placed lower and have a Tvis of less than 40% in most climates.
SKYLIGHTS
Many day lighting designs will employ skylights for top lighting, or admitting daylight from above.
While skylights can be either passive or active
• The majority of skylights are passive because they have a clear or diffusing medium (usually
acrylic) that simply allows daylight to penetrate an opening in the roof. They are often
comprised of a double layer of material, for increased insulation.
• Active skylights, by contrast, have a mirror system
within the skylight that tracks the sun and are
designed to increase the performance of the
skylight by channelling the sunlight down into the
skylight well.
TUBULAR DAYLIGHT DEVICES
Tubular daylight devices are another type of top lighting device. These devices employ a highly
reflective film on the interior of a tube to channel light from a lens at the roof, to a lens at the
ceiling plane.
Tubular daylight devices tend to be much smaller than a typical skylight, yet still deliver sufficient
daylight for the purpose of dimming the electric lighting.
 REDIRECTION DEVICES
Daylight redirection devices take incoming direct beam
sunlight and redirect it, generally onto the ceiling of a
space. These devices serve two functions:
• glare control, where direct sun is redirected away from
the eyes of occupants,
• and daylight penetration, where sunlight is distributed
deeper into a space that would not be allowed
otherwise.
Daylight redirection devices generally take one of two
forms: a large horizontal element, or louvered systems.
Horizontal daylight redirection devices are often called
light shelves.
INTERIOR DESIGN
An often overlooked element in a successful day
lighting design is the interior design.
A daylight-optimized interior design considers
furniture design, placement, and room surface
finishes with respect to daylight performance.

For example, office cubicle partition heights will be

limited, particularly those running parallel to the
south facade, enclosed offices will be kept to a
minimum, and walls and ceilings will be as highly
reflective as possible, to help "bounce" and distribute
the redirected daylight more fully.
By positioning work surfaces at a distance from the south facade, solar control is easier with smaller solar shading
devices than if a desk or office is placed directly against the south facade.
This concept is illustrated in the following figure, and shows how a relatively small overhang provides full direct
seasonal solar protection to the workspace. The area immediately adjacent to the south facade is circulation
space.
 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Distribution
Introduce as much controlled daylight as deep as possible into a building interior. The human
eye can adjust to high levels of luminance as long as it is evenly distributed. In general, light
which reaches a task indirectly (such as having bounced from a white wall) will provide better
lighting quality than light which arrives directly from a natural or artificial source.
• Glare
excessive brightness contrast within the field of view, is an aspect of lighting that can cause
discomfort to occupants. The human eye can function quite well if extreme levels of
brightness are present in the same field of view.
Direct sun in the eye of a building occupant can cause disability glare, which interferes with
the occupant's ability to see and perform work and should be avoided.

SENSOR

• Day lighting must be coupled with efficient electric lighting controls if net energy savings are to
be realized. As part of a day lighting design, consider the use of continuously dimming fixtures
controlled by luminous sensors.
• Depending on the building construction and prevailing climate, excessive window area could
also increase the cooling load in summer or accelerate heat loss in winter.
• Good day lighting requires attention to both qualitative and quantitative aspects of design.
Make sure the combination of natural and artificial sources provides adequate light levels for
the required task.
DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS
During the design process, the following design strategies should be understood and explored:

•Allow daylight penetration high in a space. windows located high in a wall or in roof monitors
and clerestories will result in deeper light penetration and reduce the likelihood of excessive
brightness.

•Reflect daylight within a space to increase room brightness. eg: a light shelf

•Avoid direct beam daylight on critical visual tasks.

•Filter daylight. the harshness of direct light can be filtered with vegetation, curtains, louvers,
or the like, and will help distribute light.

•Understand that different building orientations will benefit from different day lighting
strategies; for example, light shelves-which are effective on south facades-are often ineffective
on east or west elevations of buildings.
GUIDELINES FOR INTEGRATING ENERGY
CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES IN URBAN
BUILDINGS
Author : N. Chrisomallidou
Laboratory Of Building Construction And Physics, University Of Thessaloniki
Publishing Date: 1 Feb 2001

INTRODUCTION
• The implementation of energy – saving strategies in all categories of building in an urban
environment appears to be a serous problem.
• There are some factors that negative effects on the design
1. The relation between the height of the building and the width of the road – causes
overshadowing
2. Densely built urban centres - obstruction of the sunlight by the walls of tall buildings
3. The overshadowing – by adjacent building and other landscape features
BUILDING ORIENTATION
1. South Orientation
• South openings can be used as collectors of solar radiations
• Simple horizontal sun shading devices can be used like overhangs and balconies
• Avoid planting evergreen trees, or any thing that would cause overshadowing, in front of the
façade
2. North Orientation
• North openings provide spaces with a better quality of lighting because they only allow diffused
sunlight
• Keep the surface area open as large as necessary for lighting purpose but do not enlarge the
openings
• Use double glazing or specially insulated glass panes
3. East and West Orientations
• If there are east and west openings, then the shading devices that should be used must be external
and vertical in order to be effective.
• In offices, use special types of glass panes, such as reflecting or absorbing glass, in order to reduce
solar radiation.
GLAZING
• East and West – facing openings should be minimized
• In urban buildings, when there is a demand for large
openings, choose a special glazing type that reduces
solar heat gains during the summer period, while
allowing for natural lighting.
NATURAL LIGHTING STRATEGIES
Natural lighting plays an important role in urban buildings, and especially in
office buildings, the lighting needs of which are extremely high.
Guidelines:
• Choose the position of the spaces and their orientation in relation to their
use and the importance of natural lighting for these spaces
• For purposes of natural lighting, ensure that there are south openings
• Opt for the divisions of the total lighting surface into smaller openings.
More than one opening produces a more uniform distribution of light.
• Position the openings at high, central points in the central points in the
outside wall in order to achieve a greater distribution of light into the
interior.
• Use of advanced gazing is recommended, in order to control thermal losses,
thermal gains and high daylight penetration
• Choose the internal surfaces of the walls, ceiling and floor to have a high
reflectance value, so as to minimize the amount of light wasted
• Vertical rooflights with proper sunshading devices are preferable for the
lighting of deep spaces.
• Opt for a square-shaped atrium, the height of which should not exceed its
width, in order to secure correct lighting levels in all areas
• Ensure that the structural system of the glass roof of the atrium does not
reduce the size of the light – admitting area
• In order to avoid irritating glare, the light shelves should be constructed
above eye level.
• Opt for movable louvers instead of light shelves if you desire greater
flexibility in the operation of the lighting system.
BOOK NAME- CLIMATE RESPONSIVE
ARCHITECTURE.
• Author - Arvind Krishnan , Nick Baker
Publication- Mc Grawhill Education

• The book Climate responsive architecture takes into consideration seasonality, the
direction of the sun (sun path and solar position), natural shade provided by the
surrounding topography, environmental factors (such as wind, rain fall, humidity) and
climate data (temperature, historical weather patterns, etc.) to design comfortable
and energy efficient buildings.

This is useful because it contains information about:

• 1. various types of openings in the building fenestration.
• 2. different types of glazing materials.
• 3. location of windows on plan.
• 4. air infiltration.