Daylighting

OVERVIEW

Daylight connects us with the outdoors, provides an essential nutrient, and makes our interior spaces glow with natural beauty. Exposure to bright daylight, even indoors, has been shown to relieve sleep disorders and may contribute to general health and well-being, decreasing absenteeism at both work and school.

Yet daylighting can go awry, resulting in glare, overheating, and loss of productivity. These resources shed light on the benefits of daylighting as well as strategies for doing it right.

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  • Lighting Design for Health and Sustainability: A Guide for Architects

    Spotlight Report

    A report providing architects guidance on how to design sustainable lighting that supports health and wellness while reducing energy use.

  • Doing Daylighting Right
    March 26, 2012

    Feature Article

    Harvesting daylight is a popular way to save energy and promote productivity. But getting it wrong is all too easy-and can have the opposite effects.

  • Rethinking the All-Glass Building
    June 29, 2010

    Feature Article

    Is it time to end our love affair with the all-glass building? A lot of proponents of high-performance, green design certainly think so-while other respected architects, including some leading green designers and energy experts, argue that all-glass can work well if done right.

  • How Six Affordable Housing Projects Got to Green
    October 6, 2017

    Feature Short

    Stories of designers and developers who overcame the challenges of building affordable housing that is also green, sustainable, and healthy.

  • Controls Go Wireless
    December 4, 2007

    Feature Article

    Particularly for lighting and ventilation controls in retrofit situations wireless systems offer potential energy, money, and resource savings. The technology is still new, however, and potential drawbacks like health risks, interference, and even the potential for increased energy consumption need to be examined.

  • Historic Preservation and Green Building: A Lasting Relationship
    January 2, 2007

    Feature Article

    Rehabilitation of existing buildings is important to sustainability in buildings, but with historic buildings, green building and preservationism can diverge. With attention to preservation standards and suitable application of green strategies, however, those agendas can be aligned.

  • Greening Your Electricity
    September 28, 2006

    Feature Article

    Many businesses and homeowners are choosing to buy green power, including renewable energy credits (RECs). This article examines the environmental benefits of green power, including on-site renewables, what REC buyers should know about their purchases, and investing in energy conservation.

  • Biophilia in Practice: Buildings that Connect People with Nature
    July 9, 2006

    Feature Article

    Biophilia, or human beings' inherent love for nature, has been called "the missing link in sustainable design." EBN's Alex Wilson helps readers understand biophilia, describes why it is important relative to building design, and presents specific design strategies for bringing people closer to nature.

  • Passive Survivability: A New Design Criterion for Buildings
    May 3, 2006

    Feature Article

    Buildings and their occupants are vulnerable to threats ranging from storms and rising sea levels to accidents and terrorism. In this feature article, EBN describes how to design and construct buildings to maintain livable conditions in the event of extended power outages or loss of heating fuel or water.

  • Designing for Daylighting
    April 12, 2017

    Primer

    In addition to making your space more pleasant visually, daylighting reduces the need for electric lighting.