Daylighting

An essential architectural design parameter

 Daylighting in building design

• Daylighting is the controlled admission of natural

light into a space through windows to reduce or
eliminate electric lighting.
• By providing a direct link to the dynamic and
perpetually evolving patterns of outdoor
illumination, daylighting helps create a visually
stimulating and productive environment for
building occupants, while reducing as much as
one-third of total building energy costs.
 Daylight factor
In architecture, a daylight factor is the ratio of the light level
inside a structure to the light level outside the structure. It is
defined as:
DF = (Ei / Eo) x 100%
where, Ei = illuminance due to daylight at a point on the
indoors working plane, Eo = simultaneous outdoor
illuminance on a horizontal plane from an unobstructed
hemisphere of overcast sky.
 Daylight factor
To calculate Ei, requires knowing the amount of outside light received
inside of a building. Light can reach a room via through a glazed
window, rooflight, or other aperture via three paths:
– Direct light from a patch of sky visible at the point considered,
known as the sky component (SC),
– Light reflected from an exterior surface and then reaching the
point considered, known as the externally reflected component
(ERC),
– Light entering through the window but reaching the point only
after reflection from an internal surface, known as the internally
reflected component (IRC).
– The sum of the three components gives the illuminance level
(lux) at the point considered:
Lux = SC + ERC + IRC
 Daylight factor analysis in software
The images show the
simulated daylight
factor for the ground
(far left) and first floor
(left). Daylight factor
calculations are a
recognized method for
evaluating the light
levels (at workplane
height) in the different
rooms of the house.
Simulations like these
can assist design
decisions, for example
when deciding how
many windows should
be used and where
© VELUX Daylight Visualizer 2 – Model Home
they should optimally
be placed.
 Daylight factor analysis in software

A useful way to evaluate the building’s light levels on a whole is to simulate

the luminance (or illuminance) on a cross section view. The following image
is an example of a cross section luminance rendering, both in false colour
and black-and-white. Just like the daylight factor on the floor plan view,
these images make it easier to compare the different parts of the building
and determine how natural light is distributed.
 Daylight factor analysis in software

The values displayed in a grid on each image are in lux. The glazing
appears black because it is recognized as a light source and therefore not
a light-receiving surface. With the rendered images and the calculated
values it is possible to understand the fluctuation of the available light levels
over the course of a year. The difference in the results is even more evident
when the images are displayed in false colour.
 Benefits of daylighting
Daylighting has the potential to significantly improve life-cycle
cost, increase user productivity, reduce emissions, and reduce
operating costs:
• Improved Life-Cycle Cost and Increased User Productivity:
Daylight enlivens spaces and has been shown to increase
user satisfaction and visual comfort leading to improved
performance.
• Reduced Emissions: By reducing the need for electric
consumption for lighting and cooling, the use of daylight
reduces greenhouse gases and slows fossil fuel depletion.
• Reduced Operating Costs: Electric lighting accounts for 35 to
50 percent of the total electrical energy consumption in
commercial buildings. By generating waste heat, lighting also
adds to the loads imposed on a building's mechanical cooling
equipment.
Efficient daylighting - Energy savings
• The energy savings from reduced electric
lighting through the use of daylighting strategies
can directly reduce building cooling energy
usage an additional 10 to 20 percent.
• This is because in many cases, artificial lighting
strategies can increase the ambient
temperatures in a room.
• Consequently, for many institutional and
commercial buildings, total energy costs can be
reduced by as much as one third through the
optimal integration of daylighting strategies.
 Room light intensity

• The light entering a room is a result of Direct

(from the sun) or Indirect (reflected and diffuse)
radiation.
• In an average room the light will be strong near
the windows, where the component of direct light
is high.
• Weaker further inside the room, where most of
the light is a result of reflection from surfaces
within the room itself.
Relative light intensity inside a window
The figure shows the relative percentage intensity
of direct and indirect sunlight based on the height
of and distance from a single window on a wall.
In the figure ‘H’ is the height of
the window and it can be seen
that at a distance of 1H from the
window, the direct sunlight is
about 60% of the total sunlight
outside the window and Indirect
sunlight is about 20% of the light
outside the window. This leads to
a total of approximately 80% of
the light outside the window
being available inside.
Location of windows in plan & section
• Efficient utilization and uniformity of
light improve if the window is located
close to a side wall in the room,
because of reflection from the wall.
• Columns between the windows
reduce light uniformity.
• A higher placement of the window in
the room (in section) will give a lower
level of light at the level of work
surfaces but greater uniformity of light
because of increased reflection from
the window.
• Bringing the window closer to the
ceiling causes higher average light
intensity and more uniform lighting in
the room.
 Uniform lighting by combination

A nearly uniform lighting

level within the building
space may be achieved
by adding sources of
light far from the
window. This can be
done either by artificial
Combining artificial and natural lighting
lighting or by natural
light from a parallel wall
or the ceiling.
 Daylight design strategies
A number of design strategies should be understood
and explored during the design process. Some such
strategies are listed here:

Increase perimeter
daylight zones—
extend the perimeter
footprint to maximize
the usable day
lighting area.
 Daylight design strategies
• 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.
• Slope ceilings to direct more light into a space.
Sloping the ceiling away from the fenestration area
will help increase the surface brightness of the
ceiling further into a space.
• Avoid direct beam daylight on critical visual tasks.
Poor visibility and discomfort will result if excessive
brightness differences occur in the vicinity of critical
visual tasks.
 Daylight design strategies
• Filter daylight. The harshness of direct light can be
filtered with vegetation, curtains, louvers, or the
like, and will help distribute light.
• Reflect daylight within a space to increase room
brightness. A light shelf, if properly designed, has
the potential to increase room brightness and
decrease window brightness.
• Understand that different building orientations will
benefit from different daylighting strategies; for
example light shelves which are effective on south
façades are often ineffective on the east or west
elevations of buildings.
 Daylight design strategies
• Exterior shading - In hot climates, exterior shading
devices often work well to both reduce heat gain and
diffuse natural light before entering the work space.
Examples of such devices include light shelves,
overhangs, horizontal louvers, vertical louvers, and
dynamic tracking or reflecting systems.
• Aperture location - Simple side lighting strategies
allow daylight to enter a space and can also serve to
facilitate views and ventilation. A rule-of-thumb is
that the depth of daylight penetration is about two
and one-half times the distance between the top of a
window and the sill.
Glazing Materials – U-value, SC & Tvis
The simplest method to maximize daylight within a
space is to increase the glazing area. However, three
glass characteristics need to be understood in order
to optimize a fenestration system: U-value, Shading
Coefficient, and Visible Transmittance.
• U-value represents the rate of heat transfer due to
temperature difference through a particular glazing material.
• Shading Coefficient (SC) is a ratio of solar heat gain of a
given glazing assembly compared to double-strength, single
glazing. [NB: A related term, Solar Heat Gain Factor
(SHGF), is beginning to replace the term Shading
Coefficient.]
• Visible Transmittance (Tvis) is a measure of how much
visible light is transmitted through a given glazing material.
 Reflectances of room surfaces

• Reflectance values for room surfaces will

significantly impact daylight performance and
should be kept as high as possible.
• It is desirable to keep ceiling reflectances over
80%, walls over 50%, and floors around 20%.
• Of the various room surfaces, floor reflectance
has the least impact on daylighting penetration.
Design integration with electric lighting
• A successful daylighting design not only optimizes
architectural features, but is also integrated with the
electric lighting system. With advanced lighting controls, it
is now possible to adjust the level of electric light when
sufficient daylight is available. Three types of controls are
commercially available:
• Switching controls—on/off controls simply turn the electric
lights off when there is ample daylight.
• Stepped controls—provide intermediate levels of electric
lighting by controlling individual lamps within a luminaire.
• Dimming controls—continuously adjust electric lighting by
modulating the power input to lamps to complement the
illumination level provided by daylight.
 Daylight designs

Implementation of effective
daylighting based design
strategies
Relative light intensity inside a window

• Windows are the most

common way to admit daylight
into a space.
• Their vertical orientation
means that they selectively
admit sunlight and diffuse
daylight at different times of
the day and year.
• Therefore windows on multiple
orientations must usually be
combined to produce the right
mix of light for the building,
depending on the climate and
latitude
 Light shelves – Window feature

Special light shelves in the

windows ensure energy
efficiency and comfort by
deflecting natural light into
the rooms and reflecting it
off the ceiling to light the
room and reduce the heat of
direct sunlight. Interior lights
include motion sensors that
automatically turn lights on
and off as people enter and
exit a room.
Reflectors on buildings (eg: light shelves)

Reflectors placed on the outside of a building

absorb and reflect the sun's rays. By adjusting the
angle of the panel, the brightness and direction of
the sun's light can be controlled.
Skylights and daylighting

• Skylights are often used for

daylighting.
• Skylights admit more light per
unit area than windows, and
distribute it more evenly over a
space.
• The optimum number of
skylights (usually quantified as
"effective aperture") varies
according to climate, latitude,
and the characteristics of the
skylight, but is usually 1-10%
of floor area.
• The thermal performance of
skylights is affected by
stratification, i.e. the tendency
of warm air to collect in the
skylight wells, which in cool
climates increases the rate of
heat loss.
Light tubes or Light pipes
• Light tubes or light pipes are
used for transporting or
distributing natural or artificial
light. In their application to day
lighting, they are also called
solar pipes, daylight pipes, or
solar light pipes.
• Generally speaking, a light
pipe or light tube may refer to:
• A tube or pipe for transport of
light to another location,
minimizing the loss of light;
• A transparent tube or pipe for
distribution of light over its
length, either for equal
distribution along the entire
length.
 Light tubes or Light pipes
• A round tube lined with • Light transmission
highly reflective material efficiency is greatest if the
leads the light rays tube is short and straight.
through a building, In longer, angled, or
starting from an entrance- flexible tubes, part of the
point located on its roof or light intensity is lost
one of its outer walls.
• The entrance point
usually comprises a
dome (cupola), which has
the function of collecting
and reflecting as much
sunlight as possible into
the tube.