Topic > Principles and strategies for daylighting in the office...

Most offices around the world are open during the day. They usually start work at 7 in the morning and finish at 4 or 5 in the morning. Daylight is an essential resource that is readily available to all people and will likely last into the foreseeable future. It also has the very special property of having the ability to transform an interior space from boring uniformity into a vivid and happy experience. The ability to both illuminate a place and make it more attractive is one of the main reasons why architects try to bring daylight into a building wherever possible and practical. Since employees in offices mainly deal with documents or computer screens, a well-lit building seems necessary. A bright environment can prevent staff from getting bored and can be a good friend to their eyes. However, lighting spacious places such as office buildings requires many light sources, which are now mostly powered by electricity. When the energy crisis occurred in 1970, some of the leading OPEC countries increased the price of oil. Before this sharp price increase, energy consumption in buildings was partly ignored. The oil price crisis has pushed countries to think about using renewable energy sources. This was the starting point for the use of renewable energy in buildings. Considering the current energy crisis and the high costs of electricity, the use of artificial light sources does not seem to help sustainable design at all. Furthermore, the high cost of electricity can seriously damage a company's profit margin (Paolo Bertoldi, Bogdan Atanasiu, 2006). While some think that reducing lamps or using LEDs can achieve an energy-efficient office, there is a solution that offers the use of daylight. Since the offices are open during the day and are mostly......full of paper......turned on. It is advisable to think about natural lighting already in the early stages of designing an office building. This will make the implementation of advanced daylighting equipment much easier in the future. References: 1-MS Mayhoub, DJ Carter (2011) The costs and benefits of using daylight guidance to illuminate office buildings, Building and Environment, (Vol 46), p. 698-710.2-Paolo Bertoldi, Bogdan Atanasiu (2006), Electricity Consumption and Efficiency Trends in the Enlarged European Union, Directorate General Joint Research Centre.3-Grozon Aktas, (2012) Sustainable Design Proposals in Shopping Center Public Interiors, International Journal of Energy and Environment, (vol, 6), p. 109-116.4- M. Andersen, SJ Gochenour and SW Lockley, (2013) Modeling the 'non-visual' effects of natural lighting in a residential environment, Building and Environment, (vol. 70), p.. 138-149.