Design with Daylight: Natural Lighting
Naturally lit rooms raise spirits while lowering energy bills.
January/February 2010
By Cheryl Weber
 |
Architect E.J. Meade designs homes with high windows to bounce light deep into interiors.
Photo Courtesy E.J. Meade
|
A house filled with sunlight is cheery, warm and inviting. Throughout the day, the sun marks time, subtly changing the color and shape of rooms. Like water and fire, sunlight is an elemental part of our existence—and a fundamental component of green design. Buildings with abundant daylight help keep us physically and emotionally healthy. They also reduce the need to turn on electric lights during the day, cutting lighting energy consumption by 50 to 80 percent, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
Generous use of glass is the most obvious way to get light into a home, but a good daylighting strategy is just that—a strategy. Rather than simply cramming in as many windows and skylights as possible, it’s important to balance light’s benefits with its side effects: heat gain/loss and glare. We can control these elements with proper window placement and orientation, shading techniques and energy-efficient glass.
RELATED CONTENT
Radiant systems are a comfortable and potentially energy-saving heating choice....
From adobe to stone, use Natural Home's handy guide to alternative building systems to discover the...
A green home remodel complete with earth plasters, reclaimed wood, wheatboard, bamboo and handcraft...
Think green building costs too much? According to a report by California's Sustainable Building Tas...
As natural gas prices skyrocket, wood-burning stoves are positively hearth warming. Consider the va...
Orientation matters
If you’re designing or renovating, think about how the windows relate to the sun’s movement. South-facing windows supply steady, even daytime light and warmth, and they let in the most winter sunlight. “A south-facing window is always a net energy gainer,” Minneapolis building scientist Mark LaLiberte says. “Whatever heat is lost through the glass during the evening is balanced by gains during the day.”
North-facing windows admit soft, indirect light with little glare or summer heat gain, but they’re most affected by cold. East- and west-facing windows funnel in light in the morning and afternoon, respectively, but can cause glare. The western sun’s angle makes light hard to control, and its heat is weak in winter.
Balancing act
Balancing light is as important as orienting properly. If you’re splurging on a wall of windows, ensure sunlight enters from at least one other direction, LaLiberte says. Light coming from only one side creates glare and casts shadows, darkening the back of the room.
To ensure even light, Boulder, Colorado, architect E.J. Meade places light sources as high up as possible; higher light reaches deeper into interior spaces. He extends windows to the ceiling to bounce light around the room.
Light shelves—soffits that project into the room from beneath high windows—also reflect sunlight off the ceiling. “We’ll have a 12-inch projection into the room, simply framed and covered in drywall,” Meade says. “We’ll often double up the role and put a hidden cove light in the soffit so at night it’s a source of light. We had a client who painted the top of the light shelf red so it bounced a warm light into the room.”
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Next >>