TPS: 295x205(216) ISBN:

Commission of the European Communities

Directorate-General XII for Science Research and Development

DAYLIGHTING IN ARCHITECTURE

A European Reference Book

Edited by

N. BAKER A. FANCHIOTTI K. STEEMERS

JAMES
X
JAMES

Published for the Commission by: James & James (Science Publishers) Ltd
This publication has been prepared in The Third Solar R&D programme of the Commission of
the European Communities, Directorate General XII for Science Research and Development,
within the DAYLIGHTING Action co-ordinated by A. Fanchiotti, University di Roma.

Publication arrangements have been made under the VALUE Programme (programme for the
Dissemination and Utilisation of Community research results) within the Research Dissemination:
Energy-Efficient Building project of the Commission of the European Communities DG XIII.

Publication No. EUR 15006 EN of the Commission of the European Communities, Scientific
and Technical Communication Unit, Directorate General Telecommunications, Information and
Innovation, Luxembourg.

© ECSC-EEC-EAEC 1993 Brussels and Luxembourg. First published in 1993. Reprinted 1998.
Moved to print on demand 2001

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
without permission from the publisher.

Publication arranged by Energy Research Group, School of Architecture, University College,

Dublin.

Graphic Design and Typesetting by Mike Baker, DesignBase.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne

Published by James & James (Science Publishers) Ltd.

8-12 Camden High Street, London, NW1 OJH, UK
for the COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

ISBN 1-873936-21-4
ISBN 9-781134253-70-8 (ebk)

LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting on behalf of the
Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the information contained within.

Edited by Baker N.V., The Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, University of
Cambridge, Fanchiotti A., University di Roma, 'La Sapienza', Dipartimento di Fiscia Tecnica,
Steemers K.A., Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd, UK.

Cover Photo — Stansted Airport Terminal. Architect: Foster Associates, Photo: Martin Charles
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The material presented in this publication has been collected and developed within the
framework of the European Concerted Action Programme on Daylighting. All those who have
contributed to the project are gratefully acknowledged.

Coordinator: A. FANCHIOTTI (CIAM, Italy)

Main authors:
E. BECCHI (CIAM, Italy)
E. BRESCIANI (ICLE, Italy)
P. CHAUVEL (CSTB, France)
H. COCH (ETSAB, Spain)
P. DE PASCALI (ICIE, Italy)
M. DE WIT (TUE, Netherlands)
W. DORING (RWTH, Germany)
M. FONTOYNONT (ENTPE, France)
M. GRANT (ABACUS, United Kingdom)
S. LOS (IUAV, Italy)
S. MATTEOLI (TEP, Italy)
T. MAVER (ABACUS, United Kingdom)
A. MONZANI (CIAM, Italy)
B. PAULE (ENTPE,France)
M. PERRAUDEAU (CSTB, France)
N. PULITZER (Synergia, Italy)
R. SERRA (ETSAB, Spain)
G. STOER (Philips, Netherlands)
A. TENNER (Philips, Netherlands)
M. VIO (IUAV, Italy)
G. WILLBOLD-LOHR (RWTH, Germany)
L. ZONNEVELDT (TUE, Netherlands)

Experts of the
Commission:
A. LOHR (Germany)
J. PAGE (United Kingdom)

Programme Manager
at the Commission:
T. C. STEEMERS

Assistant editor:
L. CROSSBY

iii
 PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS

The following groups have participated in the book's research and contents:

ABACUS, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

CAR, Cambridge Architectural Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
CIAM (Engineering Company), Modena, Italy.
CSTB, Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment, Nantes, France.
ENTPE-LASH, Laboratoire de Sciences de l'Habitat de l'Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics
de l'Etat, Vaulx-en-Velin, France.
ETSAB, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, Universitat Politecnica de
Catalunya, Spain.
ICIE, Istituto Cooperativo per l'Innovazione, Rome, Italy.
IUAV, Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Venice, Italy.
MC, The Martin Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Philips International BV, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
RWTH, Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Lehrstuhlar Baukonstruktion
H, Germany.
SIV, Societa Italiana Vetro, San Salvo, Italy
Synergia Progetti, Bassano del Grappa, Italy.
TEP (Software Company), Rome, Italy.
TUE, Technical University Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
University of Munich, Germany
University of Rome, Italy
University of Sevilla, Spain

The editors gratefully acknowledge the use of photographs and diagrams from the following sources:

The Courtauld Institute - figure 1.3; The Dulwich Picture Gallery - figure 1.16
D.Hawkes - figures 1.9, 1.11, 1.24, 1.39; William Heinemann Ltd. - figure 1.33
Judges Postcards Ltd - figure 1.2; Leicester University Press - figure 1.22
Pilkington Bros. PLC - figure 1.34; Sir John Soane's Museum - figures 1.30, 1.31;
A.Tombazis - figures 1.1, 1.38, 1.44. The Architectural Review - figures on pages 11.10, 11.11, 11.12 ;
A&U Publishing Ltd - page 11.15; CONPHOEBUS - page 11.13;
St Martins Press - page 11.8; Van Nostrand Reinhold - page11.14.

iv
 PREFACE

Natural light has always played a dominant role in architecture, both to reveal the
architecture of the building and to create a particular atmosphere, as well as to provide the
occupants with visual comfort and functional illumination. The optimal use of daylight in
buildings was, at the time of cheap energy, often seen as a superfluous design constraint.
Illuminance deficiencies in the building were corrected with artificial lighting. The oil crisis
and subsequent increase in energy prices, and now the even greater awareness of the impact of
energy production on the global environment, has given an impetus to energy-conscious
design.
With the growing interest in energy-conscious design in general and solar architecture in
particular, the importance attached to energy use for artificial lighting in the non-domestic
building sector has grown as well. It is estimated that about half of the energy used in non-
domestic buildings goes to artificial lighting. Waste heat from luminaires in winter may
contribute to heating, but in summer energy is often wasted getting rid of surplus heat from
luminaires by means of air-conditioning systems. No wonder that daylighting has become, next
to passive solar heating and passive cooling, a major topic in energy conscious design, and
therefore, a major issue in the Commission's Solar Energy and Energy Conservation R&D
Programmes.
In an emerging design technology such as daylighting, it seems prudent to start by
assessing the state-of-the-art. To this end a team of 25 European experts, whose names are
listed in the acknowledgments, have worked together to collect, select, evaluate and sometimes
further develop the material from which they finally drafted the contents of this book. Their
work represents a significant achievement.
Meanwhile, the Commission's effort to make progress with the development of the
technology has continued. Research projects are under way in three domains :
• availability of daylighting data
• further development of daylighting design and control technology
• development of daylighting components.
However, the design of new buildings which make increased use of daylighting will not
stand still pending the development of new strategies. This book provides designers with an
essential tool; one which will be strengthened in the future as the results of current European
research become available.

Theo C. Steemers
Commission of the European Communities
 CONTENTS
Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 DAYLIGHTING EVOLUTION AND ANALYSIS

The Pre-industrial Period
The Industrial Revolution
Daylighting in Art Galleries
Daylighting in UK Schools
The Analytical Approach
Design Tools
The Post-fluorescent Era
European Research and Development

Chapter 2 LIGHT AND HUMAN REQUIREMENTS 2.1

Design Constraints 2.2
Design Response 2.10
Visual Comfort Requirements 2.12

Chapter 3 DAYLIGHT DATA 3.1

Review of Sky Models 3.1
Luminous Efficacy of Daylight 3.2
Results of Measurements 3.3
Sky Type Probabilities 3.9
Luminous Distribution Algorithms 3.9

Chapter 4 PHOTOMETRY OF MATERIALS 4.1

Surface Photometry Characterisation 4.1
Selection of Appropriate Materials 4.7
New Materials 4.15

Chapter 5 DAYLIGHTING COMPONENTS 5.1

General Classification System 5.1
The Basic Component: The Window 5.7
Description and Performance 5.8
Applications: Schools and Offices 5.26
Experimental Analysis of Selected Components 5.33
Conduction Component: Atrium 5.34
Control Elements 5.49
Prismatic Systems 5.57
Holographic Optical Elements 5.60
Recommendations for Control Elements 5.63
General Checklist for Design 5.64

vi
Chapter 6 ELECTRIC LIGHTING 6.1
Lamps 6.1
Control Gear 6.11
Luminaires 6.11
Luminaire mounting systems 6.16

Chapter 7 CONTROL SYSTEMS 7.1

Controls for Artificial Lighting Systems 7.3
Management Strategies 7.7
Examples 7.12

Chapter 8 LIGHT TRANSFER MODELS 8.1

Direct Illumination 8.2
Reflection and Transmission 8.4
Calculation Models 8.10

Chapter 9 EVALUATION AND DESIGN TOOLS 9.1

Scale Models 9.1
Review of Simplified Design Tools 9.3
Review of Computer Codes 9.8
Comparison and Validation 9.8

Chapter 10 EGRATED ENERGY USE ANALYSIS

INTEGRATED 10.1
Example 1 : ESP 10.1
Example 2 : HEATLUX 10.13
Example 3 : The LT Method 10.19
Future Directions 10.22

Chapter 11 CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

The Architectural Design Process
The Typological Grammar of Architecture
Case Studies
Methodology and Criteria for Classification
The Morphological Box
Selection and Classification of Daylit Buildings

Glossary GL.1

Appendices
A Sky Type Probability A.1
B Daylight Availability B.1
C Survey of Light Measuring Instruments C.1
D Guide to Scale Models D.1
E Survey of Control Systems E.1
F Review of Design Tools F.1
G Review of Computer Codes G.1
H Survey of Artificial Skies H.1

Index IN.1

vii
This page intentionally left blank
 INTRODUCTION

The Scope of this Book visually exciting daylighting design. The cultural
This European Reference Book on Daylighting traditions involving daylighting design in
is the first concrete achievement of the Commission architecture have always been very important in
of the European Communities R & D programme on Europe, and we must make sure the situation remains
daylighting. It attempts to bring together, on a the same. We also have to bear in mind, when
European-wide basis, existing knowledge on considering indoor functional aspects of daylighting
systematic daylighting design. It includes discussion design, that buildings are seen both from the outside
on the interrelationships between daylight design and and from the inside. The daylighting design exerts a
artificial lighting design, and the significance of their big impact on the external appearance of buildings.
controlled interactions for the saving of energy. Few Daylighting design also throws up many town
works can claim to be comprehensive and at the planning issues. Architects therefore have a key role
same time balanced. This reference book is the result in sustaining and developing the cultural aspects of
of contributions from researchers across Europe and daylighting. Only some of the architectural issues
inevitably represents the particular interests and needing to be addressed have been explored. The
viewpoints of individual research groups. Thus it importance of daylighting morphologies in relation
does not set out to be a comprehensive design to practical design has been highlighted. Advances in
handbook, rather a review of current European computer science, and daylight modelling (some
research, which has an overall aim of serving the recent European advances are described in this book)
design community. are enabling architects to "see" on the computer
The energy economics of daylighting are screen for themselves, the modelled quantitative
inextricably mixed with the energy economics of the results of their daylighting decisions, expressed in
associated artificial lighting systems and their perceptual terms. These advances should help span
controls. The economics of daylighting have an the gap between building science, illuminating
energy aspect and a productivity aspect. Good engineering and architectural design.
daylighting of work spaces helps promote efficient
productive working, and simultaneously increases Historical Background
the sense of well being. However, energy Organised knowledge about good daylighting
conservation should never become the sole concern practice for buildings has a very long history in
of daylighting design to the exclusion of perceptual Europe, and the Romans were pioneers. For example,
considerations. good daylighting practice is discussed in the classical
Daylight indoors is provided for people. writings of Vitruvius. Above all he stressed the
Daylight design therefore has to respect their visual importance of properly considering window
perceptual needs. Designers need to understand what orientation. What was written in Roman times still
conditions enable people to see well and has a considerable relevance for today, but we now
comfortably. Human visual comfort, considered from have at our disposal a far wider range of glazing
the daylighting point of view, is multidimensional. It materials with which to tackle daylighting tasks.
is not enough simply to provide the appropriate While the actual techniques used for summer
illumination levels. Direct and reflected glare must cooling have altered, the challenge of providing good
be controlled. Patterns of contrast must be daylighting without excessive solar gains in the
appropriate.There is therefore a current need to find overheated season remains. In surviving Roman
better ways of integrating perceptual, physical structures still in use, like the Pantheon in Rome, and
scientific and engineering approaches, taking proper the excavated residential buildings at Pompeii, we
account of the new advances in materials relevant to can still today perceive the nature of historic
daylighting design. daylighting solutions, which differed in the religious
and domestic context.
Architectural Aspects The Romans too provided the first legal structure
While this book is mainly about the science of for safeguarding rights of light in existing properties
daylighting design, great importance should be against unacceptably adverse adjacent
placed on the architectural quality resulting from developments.Their practices anticipated the

ix
 complex town planning requirements we need today intuitive design, especially in situations involving
to safeguard daylighting and sunlighting standards in innovation. A combination of art and science is
contemporary urban development. needed. This book points the way towards these
Before effective artificial lighting became sounder architectural approaches. While it draws on
available, it was particularly important to get the the past, it also points towards the new opportunities
daylighting design right. In northern Europe, presented by scientific advances, for example, the
shortage of daylight, especially in winter, made it development of new "intelligent" window systems,
necessary, when glass became reasonably affordable, like electrochromically "smart" windows whose
to provide relatively large windows, and to secure transmission properties can be controlled electrically.
good daylighting penetration by use of high ceilings It will be necessary to develop new daylighting
and open plan forms. In the southern countries of design, and artificial lighting control procedures to
Europe, the dominating need to control summer deal with such developments in new materials.
overheating in conjunction with more adequate Architects will also need to learn how to handle the
winter daylight, led to very different window impacts of these novel glazing materials on the
designs, and the use of very different plan forms. The external appearance of their buildings.
courtyard plan was found to provide very amenable
solutions. The sunlight was interreflected into Green Issues
buildings from appropriately placed external Daylight, by displacing electric light use,
surfaces, rather than allowed to penetrate directly. reduces carbon dioxide emission and, in turn, the
Vegetation covering the courtyard was often greenhouse effect.The European nations are
used to regulate and soften summer daylighting, committed to the control of global warming, and
which is otherwise harsh. It also helped to control impacts on the ozone layer, as well as policies for
overheating. In winter, the leaves dropped off, giving saving energy per se. Thus energy savings achieved
more usable daylight and useful passive solar heating by better daylight design are doubly important. We
gains. An integration of thermal microclimate design must therefore regard better daylighting design of
and daylight design was achieved. Southern Europe buildings as playing an ecological role, in addition to
also produced specific daylight inventions, like the its other contributions, like saving energy, improved
Venetian blind, to help in the processes of daylight work performance and increased human well being.
and thermal control. Additionally we have to study, in more detail, how
i mproved daylighting design can reduce air
Daylighting in the 20th Century conditioning cooling loads, and so reduce the air
The development of styles of architecture in the conditioning plant sizes, and hence the volume of
20th century, that were neither very environmentally CFCs associated with them, in addition to making
conscious nor very energy conscious, tended to substantial savings in lighting and cooling energy
overlay the earlier European traditions of daylight consumption.
design, which previously had reflected year round
needs in climatically sensitive ways. The availability Systems and Components
of cheap fluorescent electric lighting tended to While we have reasonable knowledge of the
accelerate the neglect of daylighting design. This led daylighting properties of simple unshaded windows,
on to an architectural impoverishment of our this book fills the gap in our knowledge of more
European cultural tradition of daylighting design, complex apertures or "daylighting pass through
embodied in great traditional styles based on the elements" as they are called. The opening is often not
interaction of form and daylight; for example, our a simple hole containing glass in a thin wall. There
Gothic cathedrals, and above all, in the masterly use are the various blinds, overhangs, side fins etc used
of daylight in our Baroque buildings. Many buildings in practice to control daylighting and overheating.
of the period between 1945 and 1975 especially must Some of these devices are fixed. Others are
be judged as failures in daylighting design terms, moveable and controlled, sometimes by hand,
when compared with historic solutions. sometimes automatically. These "devices" are often
Fortunately many of the most successful modern used in combination, and linked in with glazing
European architects have always resisted the materials with special transmission characteristics,
contemporary tendency to ignore the visual richness for example, reflective glazing. Complex
offered by the creative use of daylight in their components are a very typical feature of window
buildings, but even the most perceptive still have to design solutions for the hotter European climates.
assimilate new opportunities, for example new The courtyard itself can he thought of as a sort of
glazing materials like reflective glasses, prismatic external component.
glass systems and so on. They have to resolve There is therefore a need to think in terms of
successfully any inherent difficulties and avoid the "system daylighting performance" of building
pitfalls, like excessive heat gain in summer. This is components, and this book has attempted to
easier said than done. There are always latent risks in systematically classify and characterise building

x
 daylighting components. This is of greatest energy use of artificial lighting is linked to outdoor
importance in the case of innovative and complex lighting levels in a complex way. The problem has a
systems. behavioural aspect, as the building occupants are
For example one of the disadvantages of often the controllers of adjustable shading systems.
daylighting in rooms with vertical clear windows in Comfort aspects of the control problem are
one wall alone, is the sharp drop in illumination as certainly very important, and there is considerable
one moves back into the room. Advances are now evidence that, where automatic shading control has
being made by changing the light distribution been based on an over-simplistic approach,
characteristics of window components and the considering energy factors alone and ignoring
glazing materials incorporated within them. Such human comfort , the results have not been very
changes can help achieve a better internal acceptable. It is no use having an energy efficient
distribution of daylight in a side lit room. building filled with unhappy workers. Only some of
Redistribution can help reduce the need for artificial these control issues have been considered in this
light in the deeper parts of the building. book, and there is still a long way yet to go.
Daylighting devices like light shelves can protect
the occupants close to the windows from the direct Educating Architects and Engineers
rays of the sun and, at the same time, make some of Many architects all over Europe are making
that sunlight available at the back of the room for decisions without expertise or support, which will
daylighting purposes, by interreflection between the crucially effect the daylighting performance of
top surface of the light shelf and the ceiling. More buildings. Planners too are shaping our cities
advanced optical systems can provide daylighting at without a sound understanding of the implications of
greater depths in building, so helping to reduce plan, section and site layout for the environmental
cooling loads due to day-time electric lighting use. In performance of the urban tissue. Fundamental
the past, quantitative design methods for such building characteristics such as these dictate the
systems were lacking. This book contains new environmental performance for the building's
research based studies to help improve design of lifetime.
such systems. One of the major obstacles to progress is the
Knowledge of the lighting properties of present lack of knowledge on the part of lighting
materials, especially glazing materials, is very engineers of the principles of good daylighting
i mportant for daylighting design. New glazing design. This makes it difficult for them to work
materials, like holographic films and prismatic effectively with architects on the new approaches
systems, are emerging. Work is proceeding on which integrate, through the use of controls, natural
various kinds of "smart windows" with controllable light and electric light. Too easily, in this situation of
transmission properties. We need reasonably precise ignorance, engineering design slips back to the
knowledge of their optical properties to decide on adoption of simple artificial lighting solutions totally
appropriate designs. unrelated to daylighting needs.
This book presents work on simple methods for In the final analysis, progress will be determined
characterising the lighting properties of materials, by the quality of the daylight design education of
i mportant in daylight illumination studies. designers and planners, and by the availability of
Additionally basic design methodologies have been appropriate design tools, and local climatic
enlarged. New studies, based on modelling, are infoimation in forms helpful for practical design and
presented for assessing the performance of window town planning control. Simple graphic tools relating
light shelves and for considering the daylighting of to norms and standards are valuable and necessary,
atria, an increasingly important field in view of the especially for the early stages of design. With
popularity of atria solutions in contemporary progress in information technology, wider use is
European architecture. being made of computer based design tools of
different levels of complexity. This book has
Human Factors and Controls attempted to review current practice in both these
There is a growing awareness in wider fields of areas.
building science that it is crucial to take account of
the effect of occupants, when considering the Daylighting in Architecture, A European
performance of buildings. For example the shading Reference Book
of windows interferes with daylighting indoors. Daylighting in Architecture is aimed at the
Adjustable shading devices are sometimes operated architect and engineer who wants to acquire an in-
for visual control reasons and sometimes for thermal depth understanding of the principles of daylighting
control reasons, and sometimes for both. When design. The contents of this reference book are also a
blinds are lowered in hot weather, the daylight is good indication of the current scientific and design
often reduced to such an extent that the electric lights support work of the European countries. After an
are put on. So, in buildings with shading systems, the introduction which briefly reviews the historical
 development of daylighting design, "Light and A major role of this reference book is to provide
Human Requirements" sets out the physiological and design guidance. "Evaluation and Design Tools"
psychological background to the visual process in provides a review of techniques, simplified tools and
relation to design considerations. "Daylight Data" computer codes, including physical models tested in
considers the sky as a light source, describing new artificial skies.
statistical approaches to describing real sky The interaction of daylight and its displacement
luminance distribution. This approach reflects the of artificial light, and other energy uses for heating,
growing use of computer based tools for daylight cooling and ventilation is investigated using the
calculation and simulation, and represents a major simulation model ESP and is described in "Integrated
step forward from the average and standard (CIE) Energy Use Analysis". A series of case studies in a
sky. very concentrated format are described in "Case
"Photometry of Materials" deals with precise Study Analysis". This chapter presents a systematic
photometric descriptions of material surfaces, an approach to morphological analysis - the
important issue in modelling reflected light both morphological box - which enables the daylighting
quantitatively and for image simulation by extended of a building to be described in terms of a few
CAD graphics techniques, as typified by the Genelux parameters.
model. New transparent materials such as Extensive appendices provide data on sky types
holographic films, optical fibres and aerogels are also and illuminances, photometric instruments, surveys
described in this chapter. of design tools, computer codes, and lighting control
A systematic taxonomy of window systems is systems, and a directory giving the location of
given in 'Daylighting Components". Typologies artificial sky facilities in Europe. Finally a glossary
under the two building types, schools and offices, are gives definitions of descriptive words and
presented and the role of the atrium in daylighting is photometric terms and parameters.
dealt with in some detail. The application of
materials such as holographic film and components Conclusions
such as light shelves is also described. The various discussions, which took place on the
The energy saving of daylight use is directly way to producing this book have proved extremely
related to the artificial lighting that it displaces. The fruitful. These have produced some consensus about
degree to which artificial light is displaced is not what we know already, and what we need to know
only dependent upon the availability of daylight but for the future. The discussions have tended to throw
also on the switching and control system. These up the complexities of the issues, and the dangers of
topics are dealt with in the two chapters "Electric taking too narrow an approach to the daylighting
Lighting" and "Control Systems". design of window systems. Much has been achieved,
"Light Transfer Models" presents the but all the contributors realise how much more there
background to the mathematical description daylight is still to be done before we can achieve a fully
transfer from the sky to the room. Direct scientifically-validated European-wide approach to
illumination, reflection and transmission are daylighting design based on a combination of
described and calculation models, including ray- climate, human comfort, human visual performance
tracing and simplified analytical methods, are and energy analysis.
reviewed.

xii
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.1

Chapter 1
DAYLIGHTING
EVOLUTION AND ANALYSIS
DAYLIGHTING AND BUILDINGS

Vision is by far the most developed of all our

senses and throughout our cultural development light
has been the main prerequisite for sensing our own
world, and that of others - through painting, sculpture
and literature.
The building of edifices for a whole range of
functions, from simple shelter (which has enabled us
to colonise almost all of the land surface of the
globe) to ritual and ceremonial worship, and as
instruments of state and government, has surely been
the most significant of human activities and
expressions of culture. It is not surprising then that
the provision of light in buildings has been a Figure 1 - Modern mastery of daylight. Notre Dame
fundamental concern of builders and designers - as de Haut, Ronchamp, France
fundamental as the building's ability to modify (Architect: Le Corbusier, 1954).
climate or its structural stability.
Although we see daylight as the fundamental
light source, it is interesting to note that artificial THE PRE-INDUSTRIAL PERIOD
light sources have been present, in the form of fire,
for as long as, if not longer than, the most primitive Pre-industrial man had very different
of shelters. However, up to most recent times man- requirements from those of today - most of his time
made light was considered only as an alternative to was spent outside tending the crops and animals.The
the darkness of night-time. Now, quite suddenly in earliest shelters were too primitive for any concern
the last half century, the majority of the population of with the admission of light, the priority being
the developed world spend most of their working protection from the life-threatening elements. Indoor
day, in schools, factories and offices, in artificial domestic activities were simple and did not demand
light. And much of their leisure, at home, in sports good lighting. It is in ceremonial and religious
halls, shops and restaurants, also no longer relies buildings that we see the earliest manifestation of
upon daylight. conscious design for daylight.
Recently, two issues have given us all cause for The invention of glass had a crucial influence on
concern. Firstly the growing realisation that the the evolution of the window. Glass enabled the light
energy use involved in the provision of artificial and view-providing function to be maintained while
lighting contributes significantly to global insulating the interior, to some extent, from the
environmental pollution, and secondly that the external climate. This was of greater significance in
deprivation of daylight may have detrimental the cooler climates of northern Europe than in
physiological and psychological effects on the southern Europe, where the presence of daylight
occupants of buildings. These issues, together with more frequently coincided with a comfortable
architectural and aesthetic questions, make up the outside temperature. Nevertheless it was, as with
case for daylighting. many significant technical achievements, the
But has designing for daylight become a Romans who first explored the thermal (as distinct
forgotten art? Can the skills of daylighting design be from decorative) benefits of glazing their windows.
identified and disseminated, and what does science
offer in support? These are the issues explored in the In medieval domestic architecture, the window
following chapters of this reference book. pre-dates the use of glass but was equally important
1.2 Daylighting in Architecture

as a ventilation device to allow the smoke from the

unflued fire to escape. Indeed the word "window" in
the English language derives from "wind eye", and it
is interesting that some of the earliest rules of
orientation related to the sources of healthy and bad
air, with particular concern for the plague, and not
the sun. These openings were usually shuttered with
internal hinged timber panels or surprisingly
sophisticated sliding panels. The window opening
was formed with vertical mullions which provided
structural support, and limited the aperture size for
security purposes.

Figure 3 - 16th Century stained glass in King's

College Chapel, Cambridge. A Flemish glazier,
using French glass, for an English King, - an early
European venture.

see such colour, such brilliance and such richness of

imagery. For the task of promoting religious beliefs,
Figure 2 - Late 16th Century farmhouse from it was "state-of-the-art" media technology, remaining
Pendean, West Sussex, at the Weald and Down land unchallenged for its visual impact until the cinema
Open Air Museum, Singleton. Indoor tasks made nine centuries later.
modest demands on daylighting - the small unglazed
windows also provided ventilation.

The unglazed window, and the generally poorly

fitting doors and shutters, led to a high infiltration
rate. This was probably fortunate before the
development of the flued fireplace, keeping pollution
levels bearable. Internal temperatures would follow
the external temperature quite closely and comfort
was attained mainly by the radiant environment
provided by the fire. This in turn gave little incentive
to incorporate thermal insulation; glazing was
needed to provide the crucial containment of internal
air.
However, it was in sacred buildings that daylight
first played the major role. The admission of light
through the massive elements of the fabric carried
symbolism which was irresistible to the architects of
the great churches and cathedrals.
It was in sacred buildings too that glass made the Figure 4 - Church in Mdina, Malta, illustrates the
earliest impact; the use of stained glass in the great ultimate in Baroque daylighting design.
cathedrals was widespread by the 12th century. The
technique was pioneered in France and Germany and
artisans from these countries often travelled Europe- Gradually glass manufacture became more
wide to trade their wares and sell their skills. It is established and costs came down. The land-owning
difficult to overstate the impact that a sunlit stained classes were the first to adopt glazing, as violence
glass window, of majestic proportions, would have and strife subsided, and the fortification of their
had on an illiterate peasant. Nowhere else would he dwellings became of lower priority. Windows began
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.3

to be larger, and by the 16th century we see the

secular celebration of the window, as typified by the
oriel window in the Cambridge hall.

Figure 7- Detail from Vermeer's "The Music

Lesson" (1662) showing the remarkably realistic
rendering of the daylighting from the studio window.

Figure 5 - Oriel window in the Master's Lodge at It was in spinning and weaving that we see most
Queens' College, Cambridge (16th Century). The impact on building design. The need for light would
elaboration of the window indicated the importance have meant that production was crucially dependent
of the people who dined adjacent to it. upon prolonging the availability of daylight to a
maximum. It must be realised that in the 15th
Century the real cost of artificial light (in relation to
Even before industrialisation, there were certain the cost of living) was about 6000 times (per lumen)
indoor activities that made real technical demands on more than today.
daylighting. Writing, printing and painting all would
have needed good light and, with only primitive
artificial lighting available, there would have been a
heavy reliance on daylight.

Figure 8- Clerestory windows at the Guild Hall in

Lavenham, UK, (c.1520). The timber- framed
structure allowed large window areas, typical of
many buildings in this region, famous for spinning
and weaving.

Despite a steady increase in the use of glass in

the 17th Century, mainly in the form of small leaded
panes, total glazing areas remained small by modern
standards. This was partly due to structural
Figure 6 - Corpus Christi, Oxford, College Library li mitations, especially in masonry buildings,
1604. The planning provides illumination for the although in grand architecture amazing structural
bookstacks and the reading desks. feats where achieved with stone and even moulded
1.4 Daylighting in Architecture

Figure 9 - Hardwick Hall (Architect: Smythson, Figure 10.- Casting plate glass in the 18th Century.
1597) "More glass than wall", built in Derbyshire, There then followed the laborious task of grinding
UK, for the Countess of Shrewsbury. The glass was and polishing. Although mechanised, this remained
made using sand and timber from the estate, by glass in principle the only way to make large sheets of
makers from the continent. perfect optical quality, until the invention of the
Float process, by Pilkington in 1959. The floating of
the molten glass on a pool of molten tin ensured that
brick mullions. It was also due to method of the surface set optically smooth and flat without
manufacture, the crown glass technique, which polishing.
produced panes of small size. Obviously the high
cost of glass was also a constraint - the cottage
homes of the rural peasant would still have their the framing and metal work and in the increasing
windows protected by oiled cloth or parchment. size and quality of glass panes. At the beginning of
From an early age, institutional interventions this period the sash window was introduced,
such as Regulations and Taxes have influenced the probably originating in the Netherlands.
design of buildings. Both the Netherlands and Britain
have had taxes which have directly affected window
design. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
In Britain a window tax, introduced in 1697,
paradoxically led to an increase in window size. This As in many other aspects of building, it was the
was due to the tax being applied to the number of Industrial Revolution that brought the most rapid
windows rather than the total glass area. The tax had changes in both the requirements and the solutions
sufficient financial impact to prompt building owners for daylighting. Firstly, the technology made great
to brick-up windows, and even to erect new strides forward. New techniques for glass production
buildings with bricked-up, arched recesses, awaiting were devised; cylindrical blown glass enabled
the time when either the abolition of the tax, or the relatively large sheets of moderately good optical
increased wealth of the owner, would permit glazing quality to be made, without resorting to the
to be installed. Some grew tired of waiting almost expensive process of casting and polishing. Not only
two centuries for the tax to be dropped, and painted did glass become relatively cheaper, and available in
fake windows in the recesses in deference to larger panes, but major improvements were made in
architectural composition. In the Netherlands a tax the framing technology. This largely stemmed from
on street frontage led to the Flemish narrow gable- the use of iron for glazing bars, together with cast
fronted house. The relatively narrow span between iron trusses and columns. A whole new architecture
structural cross walls freed the gables from structural of light and air was born.
function allowing very large areas of glazing, For more than two centuries, horticulture had
providing light deep into the building. It is made its own particular demand on daylighting.
interesting to speculate how this feature of large Before the days of fast or refrigerated transport,
windows has persisted, even in modern Dutch fruits and vegetables had to be grown on site. Social
domestic architecture, even though the technical status was enhanced by the presence of table exotica
origins no longer apply. such as the banana, peach and orange. The tender
During this pre-industrial period steady progress nature of these fruits made them quite unsuitable to
had been made in the technology of windows, both in the northern European climate unless protected by
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.5

But the Industrial Revolution had another

impact. As the rural population flooded into the cities
to work in mills, factories and workshops, a much
greater demand for daylighting was created, for now
a large proportion of the population were working
indoors. Considerable advances had been made in
artificial light, most notable being the invention of
the incandescent gas mantle by Welshach in 1885.
But despite advances in artificial light, it still
remained far too costly to use in preference to
daylight. The availability of electric light towards
the end of the 19th Century reduced the pollution of
the indoor environment, and reduced the risk of fire,
but did little to reduce the cost.
Figure 11 - The application of wrought iron
technology to glazed structures reduced the thickness
of the bars allowing more light to enter. This had
obvious benefits in horticultural applications. Iron
also offered great architectural opportunities with
the ability to form curved surfaces. The Palm House
at Kew (Architect: Richard Turner, 1848).

glass. A whole science of glass horticulture

developed, and it was here that we see the most
significant advances in the understanding of the
optical and thermal properties of windows.
This line of development expanded to include
different building types - railway stations, libraries
and shopping arcades, culminating in the great glass
and steel engine sheds of the newly emerging
railways, and the vast exhibition halls, representing
the ultimate in glass, iron and pre-fabrication
technology.
Figure 13 - The invention of the electric lamp seemed
to be a quantum leap forward - it provided instant
light without the pollution and danger of gas or oil.
But it was not cheap, a lumen of electric light in
1880 cost in real terms 600 times more than today.

The requirement for daylighting was a form-

giver to both plan and section. Plans of multi-storey
buildings had to be narrow (by contemporary
standards), with room depth limited to about twice
the floor to ceiling height, to allow side lighting.
Spaces which demanded a deep plan, such as the
manufacturing workshops, mills and printing works,
had to be single storey with lighting from above. A
whole vocabulary of industrial rooflighting
developed.
Where a multi-storey building required a deep
floor plan, the section was pierced with lightwells
which in some cases became of such proportions that
Figure 12 - State-of-the-art gLzing technology was they could be seen as the precursor of the modern
applied to 19th Century galleria in many European atrium
cities. Galleria St Hubert, Brussels.
(Architect: Cluysenaar).
1.6 Daylighting in Architecture

DAYLIGHTING IN ART GALLERIES

The history of the art gallery as a specific

building type is a fairly recent one, beginning some
two hundred years ago with the search for an
architectural expression of the highly specialised
functions of protecting and displaying art.
The earliest purpose-designed display spaces for
art were in the palaces of the Renaissance.
Extensions to many European palaces took the form
of enfiladed side-lit rooms or galleries. Paintings
were usually hung on the walls tier upon tier creating
a continuous tapestry of art. Individual paintings
Figure 14 - Industrial roofs of the 19th and early would be taken down and studied in more detail in
20th Centuries were dominated by the need to better light. Smaller paintings, or ones with great
provide daylight. In this example the saw-tooth detail, were hung near eye level, whereas the larger
profile provided north facing glazing, and was tableaux were positioned high up the wall.
integrated with the structural design. The use of top lighting in rooms designed for the
specific purpose of displaying works of art did not
become commonplace until later, although this form
of lighting offered several advantages. First, light
would be more evenly distributed over all the walls;
second, more wall space would be available, and
third, viewing conditions would be improved by
reducing glare and limiting veiling reflections from
windows.
The end of the 18th Century saw the transfer of
major art collections from private to public hands
throughout Europe. One of the first independent
public art galleries to be built is Sir John Soane's
Dulwich Gallery. The plan is based on the model of
the private galleries and consists of five enfiladed
rooms. The use of lantern lights is however original
and very effective, and the building is considered, up
to this day, to provide one of the most satisfying
display environments.

Figure 15 - Large deep buildings needed a new

approach to daylighting. Frank Lloyd Wright's
Larkin Building in Buffalo, USA, adopted an open
top-lit atrium form which provided daylight to the
interior.

As with so many advances in the man-made

world, we can identify the 19th century as the time
when demands were both made and met for
daylighting design. The same Industrial Revolution
which produced affordable glass and glazing systems
also produced large buildings to house both the
industry itself and the commerce which grew from it.
It is interesting to trace the development of
particular building types, from this period to today,
to illustrate the emerging skills and scientific
knowledge and, more importantly, their impact on
building design. In particular the art gallery Figure 16 - The Dulwich Picture Gallery (Architect:
combines the need for technical performance in Sir John Soane, 1814) is an early public art gallery
terms of daylighting, with a strong architectural where daylight enters through lantern rooflights
message appropriate for a public cultural building. onto the walls of the enfiladed rooms.
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.7

Before electric lighting, the main environmental

concern of gallery designers was the effective
distribution of natural light. Lighting in art galleries
progressed from simple side lighting to clerestory
windows, rooflights and lanterns. Soane was a great
experimenter with the manipulation of natural light,
highlighted by the use of a wide variety of rooflight
configurations and mirrors in his own house in a
London.

Figure 17 - The view over the back of the Sir John

Soane Museum (1812-13) reveals a variety of Figure 18 - Investigations of the geometry of gallery
skylights and suggests that the architect's home sections were carried out in an attempt to explain
could be considered as the scientist's laboratory: an and improve daylighting. Cockerell in 1850 (a) and
experimental, creative research station for the Weissman in 1895 (b) established the principle of
investigation of daylight. directing light onto walls. Soane at Dulwich in 1814
(c) had achieved the desired effect intuitively,
although the original opaque lantern roof was later
Pollution, dust and moisture brought into the glazed. Seager in 1912 (d) developed Cockerell's
gallery by increasing numbers of visitors were section, which, reinterpreted by the National
thought to be damaging to paintings. This often Physical Laboratory, was used for the Duveen Wing
resulted in the use of glass to cover art work for of the National Portrait Gallery, London (1927) (e).
protection. Unfortunately this had the repercussion
of making reflections more disturbing to the viewer.
A series of geometric constructions for the gallery It was not until the "Conservation Movement",
section were proposed, attempting to alleviate the which emerged during the middle of the 20th
visual deficiencies that existing galleries tended to Century, that it was established how important
suffer from. lighting control was in preventing the deterioration
It was as early as 1850 that the first theories on of artworks, and this was to have significant
good gallery daylighting were developed by F. P. repercussions on the architecture of art galleries.
Cockerell. His main concern was to light the picture The two main functions of an art gallery are to
well while reducing glare from the skylight, and display and to protect. In terms of the lighting
reflections of the spectators in the picture glasses. environment these two aims contradict one another.
He proposed the use of a velarium', or opaque On the one hand effective display requires a
screen, over the central area of a gallery. Weissman sufficient amount of light to pick out details. On the
in 1895 developed Cockerell's construction further in other hand, the preservation of art demands a
positioning of skylights, reminiscent at least minimum amount of exposure, to limit deterioration.
strategically of Soane's design at Dulwich. Seager in Initial detailed research was concentrated on the
1912 continued the refinement of Cockerell's damaging effects of light, the most important agent
principles. Research at the UK National Physical of deterioration in art galleries. Research concluded
Laboratory led to the configuration used in the that ultra-violet light was responsible for a great part
Duveen Wing extension of the National Portrait of the deterioration of organic materials.
Gallery, London. Furthermore, fixed illumination levels were proposed
according to the sensitivity of artwork.
1.8 Daylighting in Architecture

The art galleries that were constructed directly

after the conservation movement of the 1950s, are
often characterised by total exclusion of natural light.
The argument was that by creating an artificial
environment the processes of deterioration could be
closely controlled. Furthermore, the exhibition
designers could have full control over the lighting
effects and arrangement of the exhibits, thus offering
greater flexibility. This environmentally exclusive
approach was particularly prominent in the United
States during the 50s and 60s often expressing the
protection of art in the "strong box" aesthetic.
The other option was to use daylight in a highly
controlled manner to achieve the lighting standards,
by the use of adjustable louvres, velaria or prismatic
glass. Many galleries have been constructed using
this approach but have come under criticism from
people in the museum profession and the general
public. The main complaint has been that the
continuous control of light to a fixed level creates a
monotonous environment, with little relief, which
will result in museum fatigue. Furthermore the
quality of light under the diffusing, translucent
ceiling system is unsatisfactory, being likened to an
underwater environment.
The segregation in art museums of a mechanistic
zone for viewing, from a poetic, exuberant arrival
and circulation area, is one manifestation of the
dichotomous environmental requirements. Brawne
has termed these two parts the "store" and the
"temple". An example of this approach is Stirling's
Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart. The exhibition spaces are
highly controlled environments and the process of Figure 19 - The Staatsgalerie at Stuttgart
entering is more abstract and playful - in short, the (Architects: Stirling and Wilford) demonstrates a
difference between the two parts of an art gallery has recent approach to museum design. The public front,
become more pronounced. entrance and circulation areas are architecturally
While many newoart galleries of the 1960s expressive, while the gallery spaces are restrained
adopted an environmentally exclusive or mechanised and have a closely controlled lighting environment.
approach, due to concerns about deterioration, to the
detriment of the museum-going experience as a
whole, other architects were concentrating on issues Sensitive works of art, such as tapestries and water-
of display. Scarpa and Albini were designers colours, are placed at the heart of the building,
involved with art gallery design during this period. whereas sculptures for example are positioned near
Scarpa, at Verona's Castlevecchio, respected the the edge and are bathed in side light. Simple
existing daylighting in the building, and clearly rooflights provide natural illumination along
articulated his modern interventions. The use of "avenues" and control is provided by blinds. This
"easels" or pivoting display screens allowed the integrated response, where the nature of the artefact
positioning and manipulation of the objects to take in relation to the need for differing degrees of
advantage of the available daylight. environmental control and differing display settings
The poetic settings of these galleries are very is exploited, is at the root of the building's design
appealing, but pressures to preserve art for future and success.
generations demand a greater degree of There is growing interest in simpler daylighting
environmental control than they have been able to controls, limiting annual average exposure rather
offer. than ensuring fixed illuminance limits. This can lead
A recent example of this integration of display to energy efficiency and a greater architectural
and conservation is Gasson's Burrell Gallery near clarity.
Glasgow. Here the wooded park provides the The manipulation of light goes to the heart of the
background and a setting for the art, reminiscent of architectural enterprise, but in art galleries this is
the Louisiana Gallery near Copenhagen, Denmark. tempered by practical concerns for conservation. A
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.9

Figure 20 - A view across the north,facing glazed Figure 21- Lack of planning constraints resulted in
wall of the Burrell Gallery near Glasgow (Architect: buildings packed closely together, as typified by
Gasson) shows the use of sidelighting for sculptures. these streets in Paris at the end of the 19th Century.
More sensitive artwork is placed further into the These squalid conditions eventually prompted the
centre of the plan where the environment is more adoption of planning laws which explicitly protected
closely controlled. rights to daylight and sunlight.

greater understanding of the principles involved in 1874. In response to concern for eye health and the
deterioration due to light offers a fresh insight into avoidance of myopia, he states that "lighting from the
the extent and form of control that is necessary. New side, especially the left side, is of such great
architectural opportunities arise that allow a balanced importance as properly to have a material influence
approach and a greater freedom in daylighting over our plans". He goes on to give rules of thumb -
design. "a classroom is only well lit when it has 30 square
inches of glass to every square foot of floor space"
(about 20% glass to floor area). We must interpret
DAYLIGHTING IN UK SCHOOLS this rule bearing in mind the dismal condition of the
urban atmosphere, heavily polluted by coal fires, and
In Britain, prior to the Education Act of 1870, the fact that artificial light was still an expensive
schools provided for the children of the wealthy had luxury.
been well funded. The modest densities of But he was also aware of the issue of visual
occupation did not stretch the environmental design comfort. In discussing the desirability of sunlight in
skills of the architect unduly, and the model lay the classroom he writes - "It is well known that the
somewhere between the country house and the rays of the sun have a beneficial influence on the air
college or seminary. The provision of the Act to in the room, tending to promote ventilation, and are
make education compulsory for all suddenly created to a young child very much what they are to a flower.
a huge demand for school buildings, and for them to Acting on this known fact, the builders of some
accomodate much larger numbers of children within schools have sought to secure as much sun as
more constrained budgets. possible, and produced results of light and glare
This in turn created the need to heat, light and painful in hot summer weather, either to teachers or
ventilate large classrooms, at very low running cost. pupils or both". He goes on to give guidance on the
This requirement was interpreted in almost moralistic appropriate orientation of windows.
terms. The provision of light and air in schools The Victorian schools in Britain made a
(noticeably absent in the squalid housing prevalent in determined move towards deep plans. Light for the
most of the cities, and in many of the workplaces) central hall was "borrowed" light over the top of the
became a driving force in the evolution of school tall classrooms located in the perimeter zone.
design, right up to the present day.
Early progress in daylighting design is illustrated This compact planning suited the crowded urban
in a book on "School Architecture" written by E. R. site, and the educational objective of centralised
Robson, Architect to the London School Board, in control through head teacher, teachers and assistants.
1.10 Day lighting in Architecture

unlimited light and cross-ventilation, and satisfied a

renewed obsession with light and air.
In spite of their large area of glazing, these
schools did not suffer excessively from overheating
since the fabric was massive, and the generous room
height permitted useful stratification and ventilation.
Moreover the large height-to-depth ratio of the
rooms resulted in an acceptable daylight factor
variation across the room.

Figure 22 - Windows for school buildings

demonstrate advanced technology of the period,
providing daylight and a fine degree of ventilation
control. From E. R. Robson.

Figure 24 - Earswick School (Architect: Unwin

1911). Large areas of openable glazing were a
response to theories concerning the benefit of
daylight.

But it was precisely the two problems of thermal

discomfort and glare for which the next generation
designs, the system-built schools of the postwar
boom, were infamous. This type of system building
was born out of the need to cater for a rapidly
growing school population, under the influence of
modernism, both in style and building production.
There was also the requirement by the Department of
Education and Science that every classroom should
have a minimum daylight factor (DF) of 2%.
C = Classroom
These factors led to nearly three decades of
0 8,0 ft lightweight, over-glazed and poorly insulated
buildings. The 2% DF requirement when applied to a
32-place classroom demands virtually 100% glazing
Figure 23 - Deep plan London Board School, late above the work-plane, and up to the suspended
19th Century. The central hall was lit by "borrowed ceiling at a height of 2.4m. The variation of DF was
light" across the perimeter classrooms. excessive and the large area of sky visible from deep
in the room led to serious glare problems. Although
the 2% criterion was met, artificial lighting was often
However, in spite of ingenious ventilation devices, used in order to reduce the brightness range. Largely
using heating coils, roof-mounted cupolas and later, as a result of the large glazing area, the thermal
in some cases, fans, air quality was not good. By the environment presented major problems, high room
early 20th Century, a new plan form was evolving. air temperatures in summer being exacerbated by
The greater space afforded by suburban sites, direct sunlight falling on the occupants sitting close
where most new school building was taking place, no to a window. In winter the reverse condition applied,
longer necessitated the compact form. The new plan with excessive convective and radiant loss to the
was essentially a row of classrooms connected to the single glazing.
hall and specialist rooms by open corridors or Experience with these British system-built
verandahs. This gave opportunity for almost schools serves as an object lesson on how the strict
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.11

this type and were beginning to adopt heavyweight

systems with small windows and a deep plan,
necessitating artificial lighting and mechanical
ventilation. New developments in teaching methods,
so-called "open plan teaching" required an open plan
space, and a strong parallel with the biirolandschaft
was drawn. In Britain "Integrated Environmental.
Design" or IED, was the term used by school
architects. Undoubtedly these buildings had fewer
comfort problems and better energy performance, but
they were the first in the history of school building to
reject nature's light and air.

Figure 25 - This secondary school typifies the system

designs of the 1970s. The window wall is all glass
above the work-plane in an effort to provide a
minimum 2% Daylight Factor. This resulted,
however, in glare and thermal discomfort. Large
glazing areas did not guarantee that electric lighting
would not be used, and often the glazing was
obstructed due to use as a "pin-up" area.

observance of a single technical criterion can lead

down a false avenue of development. Now we are
more aware of lighting quality as distinct from
quantity - in particular, the significance of uniformity Figure 27 - "Integrated Environmental Design"
ratio and glare. The experience also illustrates the deep plan school at Elmstead Market, Essex, UK. A
need for an integrated approach to environmental move away from the over-glazed system schools of
design. the early 1970s, the small sealed windows
The epilogue to this story is that these schools necessitated artificial lighting and mechanical
are now undergoing major refurbishment. This is ventilation.
often used as an opportunity to improve the
daylighting by modifying the façade with reduced
glazing areas, shading devices and lightshelves. Not all authorities went down this path. For
By the mid-1970s, some local education example, Hampshire County Council rejected the
authorities were no longer commissioning designs of system building approach. The individuality of the

Figure 26 - Daylight model in an artificial sky, Figure 28 - Yately Newlands Infants School
testing the reduction of glazing area and the use of a (Architect: Hampshire County Council) was an
rooflight, during a refurbishment of 1970s system- important step away from the system designs of the
built school. 1970s The absence of a ceiling permits rooflighting
(Architect: E. Cullinan, Daylighting: B. Ford) to illuminate the white painted spine wall, providing
very even illumination to the teaching spaces.
1.12 Daylighting in Architecture

architects' work led to much richer envelope design and aesthetic criteria for daylighting. Many of these
giving greater opportunity for natural daylight and examples are a product of EC support, and have
ventilation. Yately Newlands was the first of a whole benefitted from of daylighting design tools and
series of schools built by Hampshire C.C. with technologies which are described in this reference
energy conservation on the agenda. As architectural book.
tastes moved firmly away from modernism, the
adoption of a more traditional vocabulary, with a
more varied envelope design, provided more THE ANALYTICAL APPROACH
opportunity for well distributed daylighting. But,
despite this trend, in most cases daylighting did not The traditional approach to daylighting design
receive special design effort. Daylight was seen as a has, like most other elements in building design,
bonus, part of the ambiance of the building, but not been by precedent and experience. Probably until
part of the functional brief. well into this century, "daylighting design" would
Global issues have recently re-focused attention not have been identified by the architect as a
on both energy use and environmental quality in particular topic. Window design was closely related
buildings. This concern has been directed towards a to architectural style, the window being such a
range of building types including schools and we can dominant visual feature of the building. Technical
now find examples all over Europe where conscious limitations and construction practice also influenced
design effort has been applied to meet both technical the design.
Although they depended greatly upon precedent
and example, that did not prevent some 19th Century
architects being very systematic and consciously
experimental. Sir John Soane was a good example of
this. Practising at the beginning of the 19th Century,
he combined his passion for collecting objects of
antiquity and paintings with an experimental
approach to daylighting design. At his private
museum at his home in Lincoln's Inn, London, many
fascinating examples can be seen. Looking down on
the roof of the main museum, one is struck by the
resemblance to an experimental area of a 19th
Century building research station ! (See figure 17).
His most well known gallery design is the Dulwich
Gallery, already described. His imaginative approach
did not stop at gallery lighting - the famous Breakfast
Room at Lincoln's Inn incorporates mirrors and
interreflected light to achieve a complex lighting
effect.

North South

Figure 29 - This school, La Vanoise College, Figure 30 - Sir John Soane's Breakfast Room 1812.
Monderne, France (Architect: P. Barbeyer, Innovative use of concealed roof lighting, reflected
Daylighting: M. Fontoynont), has an advanced light and mirrors provided light to this internal
daylighting system, well suited to the sunny alpine room.
climate of the Savoie region.
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.13

It is interesting to speculate just how close Soane Thus daylight was still regarded as the main
came to the use of analytical methods. He built many source of lighting in buildings, with artificial lighting
models and it is tempting to suggest that he would use only at night. Buildings still adopted relatively
have used them to give a subjective impression of shallow plans and lightwell forms. This emphasis on
appearance under daylit conditions. However there daylighting generated a strong incentive to develop
is no evidence in his many writings that Soane used daylighting design aids, and this inevitably led to the
any mathematical treatment to support his interest in development of methods of prediction.
daylighting. It is interesting to note that the current
state of knowledge of photometry in the early 19th
Century had not reached a stage where even the
definition of Daylight Factor was possible, since
illuminance had not yet been defined. And it was
another 50 years before an instrument for measuring
light intensity was invented.
What is certain is that Soane's watercolourist
Gandy developed great skill in depicting daylight in
his interiors, ensuring that daylight was high on the
list of design priorities. We have already seen that
the particular functional requirements of galleries
and museums had prompted some of the earliest
analytical work, as typified by Cockerell and Seager
in their work which led to gallery sections for the
Tate and the National Galleries in the UK at the Figure 32 - The plan of County Hall, London,
beginning of the 20th Century. This period showing the shallow plan of courts and lightwells.
represented the beginning of a period of technical (Architect: Knott, 1908)
development in daylighting design which brings us
up to the postwar, pre-fluorescent period.

DESIGN TOOLS

The first problem to be addressed was the prediction

of the amount of direct daylight from the sky. As
with many matters architectural, Vitruvius got there
first. In Book VI of "De Architectura" he says "On
the side from which the light should be obtained, let
a line be stretched from the top of the wall that seems
to obstruct the light to the point at which it ought to
be introduced, and if a considerable space of open
sky can be seen when one looks up above the line,
there will be no obstruction to the light in that
situation". This rather enigmatic instruction may
Figure 31 - Gandy's water colours of interiors of the have lost something in translation, but must be the
Bank of England showed remarkable rendering of origin of the simple "sky-line rule" - that rooms will
daylight and it is interesting to speculate how close be well lit if there is a view of the sky from the point
it came to being a design tool. of interest.
But more precise methods were largely
prompted by the need to adjudicate disputes
Buildings of this period were becoming larger concerning the obstruction of light by a proposed
and deeper in response to the centralisation of building. One of the earliest methods in common use
business activity. Their growth in size was made was that due to P.J. and J.M. Waldram, dating back
possible by increased use of steel and reinforced to the 1920s.
concrete structures, and the growth in the use of Known as the Waldram Diagram, it provided a
mechanical ventilation. But by the 1930s artificial grid upon which the elevation of the window from
lighting was still expensive; the luminous efficacy of the point of interest could be drawn. While the grid
a typical filament lamp was only about 12 lumens had a linear horizontal scale, the vertical scale was
per watt and electricity was at least five times more non-linear to take account of the obliquity (or cosine
expensive in real terms than at present, resulting in law) of illumination, and the non-uniform luminance
lighting being about 25 times its present real cost. of the sky vault.
1.14 Dztylighting in Architecture

In all of the above methods, the external

reflections from buildings are assumed to make a
contribution equal to that of the sky they obstruct,
multiplied by the reflectance of the obstruction. This
simple approach to the Externally Reflected
Component is sufficiently accurate for all but very
close obstructions, such as lightwells, where
interreflections have a significant effect.

,o Sky Component 5coJe

for Long Vertically a,
Figure 33 - The Waldram Diagram. The whole lazed Apertures

diagram represents a projection of half the sky vault.

Thus the Sky Component of the Daylight Factor can
be calculated from the ratio of the area of the visible
sky patch to twice the total area of the diagram. It is SECTION
Sky Component for Infinitely Long Window
drawn for the non-uniform CIE sky and taking =67. — 027, =5. 87:
account of the variation of the light transmission of
glass with angle of incidence.

The Waldram Diagram permitted the vertical Figure 35 - The BRS Daylight Protractor. The solid
edges of windows or obstructing buildings to be angle of the visible sky subtended to the reference
plotted as vertical lines. Horizontal edges were point is measured from the plan and section of the
plotted as curves, by reference to guide lines known room. In this case the scale of the protractor is made
as "droop lines". Other approaches to the same non-linear to account for the sky luminance
problem included the so-called "pepper-pot" distribution and glass transmittivity.
diagrams after Pleijel. Here the sky is represented in
stereographic projection and the weighting of the
daylighting contribution is indicated by the density The Internally Reflected Component requires a
of dots. different and more complex treatment. Prior to
Perhaps the best know graphical tool is the BRS Fruhling's work in 1928, the effect of reflected light
Daylight Protractor developed by the Building had been ignored with the design effort being applied
Research Station in the UK. to direct skylight. This attitude was probably
appropriate when dark natural finishes were
common, and a logical way of dealing with the grime
resulting from the contemporary artificial light
•
• sources. The recognition of the significance of
, •
reflected light was a major step towards modern
• . • • •
daylighting; almost all limiting cases for sidelighting
• • ,: .• ' •• :. °
now involve the manipulation of the Internally
.• •• • . • .
• Reflected Component (IRC), mainly for the purpose
. • •

. •
of reducing the variation of Daylight Factor caused
by the strong geometric dependence of the Sky
i
Component.
Mathematical treatments had to strike a balance
between modelling the complex interreflection
between room surfaces, and a formula which gave
useful accuracy with a minimum of input data. A
Figure 34 - Pleijel's "pepper-pot" diagrams. Each successful compromise was the Split Flux Method.
dot represents 0.1% Sky Component. The advantage This considered light which originated from outside
of this system is that the geometry is not distorted, ground reflection onto the ceiling and upper wall,
thus permitting sunpaths to be superimposed on the separately from that which originated from above the
same representation of the obstructions and the horizon, but reached the work-plane via reflection
window aperture. from the floor and subsequently the ceiling.
 Daylight.ing Evolution and Analysis ...15

Other interesting work, still in the postwar pre-

fluorescent era, included the study of glare problems
associated with daylighting which resulted in a glare
index prediction nomogram. However, unlike the
Daylight Protractors, the input required luminances
and special geometric data which would not
normally be accessible or familiar to a designer.
Thus the work, regrettably had little influence on
daylight design.
We have already referred to the influence of the
the 2% DF on the design of schools, which was, in
retrospect, not a positive influence. Another large
scale influence on design has been regulation for the
provision of daylight and sunlight at an urban scale.
For example in the UK, the Daylight and Sunlight Figure 36 - Deep-plan office buildings of the 1970s
Indicators addressed the old problem of the effect of abandoned the envelope as a source of light and air,
new buildings on existing buildings and existing providing a totally artificial internal environment.
sites. The requirement to respect Rights of Light and
Rights of Sunlight had considerable influence on the
shape of buildings, particularly tall buildings in fail to provide daylight to the surrounding spaces, but
dense urban situations. in most cases the atrium itself was so badly daylit
that artificial lighting had to be provided for the well-
being of the plants. This was usually the result of
THE POST-FLUORESCENT ERA over-cautious solar control, with fixed shading and
tinted glass. Reducing unwanted summer solar gains
The development of fluorescent lighting marked also drastically reduced the daylight.
the end of an era where daylighting was at least a Where daylighting design in non-domestic
design aim, even if in practice it was not attained. buildings is concerned, the last two decades could
Fluorescent lighting gave at least a fourfold increase then reasonably be described as the dark ages.
in lighting efficacy, thus reducing running cost and Daylighting design became a neglected if not
heat gain sufficiently for designers to abandon forgotten art, only a few exceptional cases departing
daylighting altogether. As soon as this decision was from the norm.
made, glazing areas could be drastically reduced, or Despite the steady increases in the luminous
clear glazing could be replaced with tinted or efficacy of light sources, artificial lighting remains
reflective glass, so prevalent on many bland, faceless the largest or second largest energy user in most non-
buildings of the 1970s. Large areas of clear glazing
employed for reasons which lay somewhere between
the pursuit of style and the provision of daylight, had
already been identified as the villain, causing
massive solar gains and heat losses. Designers
happily retreated from the envelope which no longer
had to act as an environmentally selective filter. The
function of the envelope became to exclude the
external environment, and to contain an artificial
environment provided by the engineers.
Where daylight was abandoned, the quantity of
artificial light as distinct from its quality became an
obsession. Studies in the USA had suggested that
productivity in offices increases as a function of
illuminance, and lighting levels as high as 1200 lux
were adopted with no regard for the energy costs.
This, together with the move to open plan, led to a
monotonous and inhuman working environment of
air-conditioned office prairies.
Even in buildings which purported to respond to
the cause of energy conservation, daylighting was the Figure 37 - Tinted glass and permanent shading
most frequently neglected aspect of design. For results in such poor daylighting that the plants
example, the atrium was generally advocated as an require permanent artificial lighting even in the
energy-saving feature. But not only did the atrium atrium itself
1.16 Daylighting in Architecture

domestic buildings. However, even the provision of

good daylit spaces is not sufficient to guarantee
energy savings, since artificial lighting is frequently
left on even when not required. Considerable
progress has been made in the development of
control systems which ensure the use of daylight to
displace artificial light, but these systems are not
widespread.

Figure 40 - Some atrium buildings did address the

problem of daylighting and solar control. This
building in Cambridge, UK, has an atrium where
clear glazing and light finishes result in a high
daylight level, and temperature-operated shading
devices and natural ventilation prevents summer
overheating. (Architect: The Charter Partnership).

Figure 38 - Hertzberger humanised the open plan at EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND

the Centraal Beheer in Utrecht, The Netherlands, DEVELOPMENT
mainly by the creation of varied and identifiable
spaces, designed to engender social interaction. An It is in this last decade that significant progress
important ingredient too was daylighting and the had been made in Europe on energy conservation in
provision of views. housing design. Much of this progress was a result of
National and European Commission (EC) research
and development programmes. Attention turned from
active solar systems to passive systems, and towards
the end of the1980s, consensus views on effective
passive design had been reached, design rules
established, and many examples built both to
demonstrate the principles and to provide monitored
data to refine techniques. However, daylighting
received little attention in this work since domestic-
sized buildings present little challenge to daylighting
design, window design being dominated by solar
collection optimisation.
Towards the end of this period, attention began
to shift to non-domestic buildings. In 1987 the first
EC Concerted Action Programme on Daylighting
involving six groups, was started with the main
Figure 39 - The Headquarters for the Western objective of producing this reference book,
Electricity Board at Bedminster Down, Bristol, UK. Daylighting in Architecture.
Designed by Arup Associates. This design adopting At about the same time, and following the
a shallow-plan courtyard form and, maximising the success of two previous architectural design
use of daylight, was an important departure from the competitions, a third competition "Working in the
trend in the late 1970s. City" was organised under the ARCHISOL
programme of the CEC. As the name suggests, the
subject for design was the workplace, and the
constraint was energy conservation by passive
 Daylighting Evolution and Analysis 1.17

means. This naturally focused attention on MWh/m2

0.35
daylighting since it was by now realised that lighting
total
energy constituted a major component of the overall h+1
0.3
energy consumption of a building, while heating heat
............. light
energy, even in northern European regions, was
0.2
often quite small.
As part of the design support provided for
"Working in the City" a simple energy design tool, 0.2

the LT Method, was developed. The method

evaluated the annual primary energy use for heating, 0.15

cooling and lighting, taking account of interactions

between them, and responded to factors available 0.10

early in the design development.

Other EC initiatives have also focused on 0.05

daylighting. The recent Building 2000 programme

provided design support for innovative designs in the 0.00
non-domestic sector, for real low-energy projects. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
SOUTH % glazing ratio
Daylighting design featured high on the list of
priorities.
Figure 42-A set of curves from the LT Method. The
graphs illustrate the important contribution that
800 r- 800
-
cs
lighting makes to the total energy consumption. The
700 700
object of the method is not a precision calculation,
but rather to indicate the effect and importance of
›, 600 600
certain design parameters such as plan, section,
500 10
500 glazing ratio, etc.
6 400 & 400
O

300 300
We can see then that the recent intensification of
200 200 interest in global environmental issues which has
focused interest on reducing energy use in buildings
100 100
has in turn strongly supported a return to the use of
0 daylight in non-domestic buildings. There is also
(a) delivered energy (b) primary energy growing support for daylight, stemming from a
III heat & hw ;3.1 retrigeraton fans & pumps

lighting [11 office eqpt. misc.

Figure 41- Energy end use in 14 UK office buildings.

Note that for delivered energy heating energy is the
largest component for naturally ventilated buildings,
but becomes much less significant in air-conditioned
buildings. However for primary energy , lighting is
the largest single end use, and constitutes more than
30% of the energy used in environmental
conditioning (in individual cases it can be as high as
45%). Primary energy relates much more closely to
cost than delivered energy, and for most of Europe
gives a good indication of CO2 production and other
environmental impacts.

Many technical developments have occurred in

the last decade, which increase the application
potential of daylight. These include innovative Figure 43 -This atrium at the Centre for New
component design such as light ducts and light- Businesses, Reze, France (Architect: SETOM,
shelves, and also new materials which can be used to Daylighting: Chauvel) is designed to provide light to
control and redirect light. the surrounding rooms. It is one of the buildings
supported by the EC Building 2000 programme.
1.18 Daylighting in Architecture

concern for the quality of the internal environment

from the occupants, point of view. The phenomenon
of Sick Building Syndrome(SBS) is particularly
associated with deep plan air-conditioned buildings,
and lighting quality, particularly spectral
composition, flicker and glare, is thought to be one
of the cocktail of contributory factors. More
specifically, the Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD
syndrome, is directly related to light deprivation.
Daylit buildings, due to the non-uniformity of
illuminance in both time and space, usually provide
sufficient illuminance to trigger the physiological
processes necessary to avoid the syndrome. Research
is now being carried out to link these physiological
Figure 44-Training Centre Agricultural Bank, requirements with architectural parameters.
Athens, Greece. Light shelves for the classrooms These two concerns, the internal and the external
also provide shading. Central clerestory windows environment, are beginning to come together in the
(on the right) light a corridor. (Architect: Tombazis). designer's mind in concepts such as "green"
buildings or "healthy" buildings. In the UK the
Department for the Environment is promoting "green
labelling" by means of a certification procedure
know as BREEAM, the Building Research
Establishment Environmental Assessment Model.
Originally developed for non-domestic buildings,
daylighting scores credits in the assessment both in
its role in reducing energy consumption and in its
contribution to internal environmental quality.

CONCLUSIONS

Daylighting has been an implicit part of building

design for almost as long as buildings have existed.
We have seen how the evolution of the window,
responding to functional requirement, technological
opportunity and cultural influence, has consistently
enriched architecture through the centuries, only to
lose its sense of direction in the post-fluorescent era
of the last forty years.
Now however, concerns for both the global
environment and the internal environment have re-
Figure 45- St Mary's Hospital, Isle of Wight focused interest on the art of daylighting. In the
(Architects: ABK). The use of daylight is part of an meantime scientific analysis techniques, as described
overall energy saving strategy, but is also an in this reference book, have become available, and
important consideration for the recovery and well- should allow daylighting design to progress much
being of the patients. Here, top-lighting provides more rapidly. It is hoped that we are now witnessing
good daylighting to positions seven metres away the re-emergence of daylighting design from a
from the perimeter. This removes the need for a temporary dark age, to assume once more its vital
large glazing area in the window wall. role in architecture.
 Light and Human Requirements 2.1

Chapter 2
LIGHT AND HUMAN REQUIREMENTS

INTRODUCTION related to analysis; the other sees it as an autonomous

self-creative action, characterising living systems as
Luminous Comfort versus Visual Comfort sense producers.
There are few parallels between luminous and The former position predominates. Here, the
thermal comfort. While optimal thermal conditions processes of visual perception are represented as an
are those where the occupant does not feel any need information flow that starts from the retina and runs
for changes towards warmer or colder conditions, towards the visual cortex to reconstruct, through
luminous comfort is a much more complex concept. continuous successive information processing, the
The luminous environment has more in common mappings modelled upon the images received from
with the acoustic environment, in that both are the external world.
related to receiving messages, rather than just This "representationist" interpretation of visual
referring to a state of neutral perception of the perception recalls the idea of the mind as a mirror of
environment. nature, related to a Cartesian concept of knowledge.
Nobody at home or in the work place needs to However, the study of visual system anatomy
receive a thermal message or decode a climatic raises questions concerning this interpretation
pattern. However, there is a need to interpret acoustic because it has been shown that only a part (1/5) of
or visual messages, and so people are concerned to the information acquired comes from the retina, and
improve their reception through the reduction of thus from the external world. Instead of being
interferences of transmission. Luminous comfort represented as a chain of instructions transmitted
must be interpreted as the clear reception of visual from the retina to the visual cortex, the perceptual
messages from the visual environment. It thus is in process seems to be a more complex interaction, with
this respect, more appropriate to refer to visual feedback and crossing interactions. We thus find a
comfort, rather than luminous comfort. system organised in a reticular way: in place of an
Traditionally, visual comfort in places of work input followed by a transformation and then an
has been associated simply with providing output, it emerges as a simultaneous convergence of
illuminance levels adequate for the intended task, all the involved parts (2). This theory is characterised
while minimising, as much as possible, all other by the mind creating its own, closed and self-
stimuli from the environment. Some recent studies in referencing model of the external environment (3)
environmental psychology and ergonomics have (Figure 1).
emphasised the need for a more interesting
environment in the work place, with the benefit of
improving productivity. This has in some cases been
achieved by redecorating tedious grey office walls.
The aesthetic aspects of architecture, which can
enhance luminous stimuli in non-domestic buildings,
are central in achieving visual comfort. There is a
need for complexity in architecture as a means of
reaching true visual comfort; uniform building
interiors are boring.

Visual Perception
Visual perception is an essential part of the
cognitive process. Cognitive activities, important for
the understanding of complex systems, constitute a
central issue of current scientific research (1).
We can recognise within the field of cognitive
research, and therefore in the study of perception, Figure 1 - A cognitive metaphor (Esther).
t wo contrasting positions: one considers the
cognitive process as a problem-solving activity,
2.2 Daylighting in Architecture

We can say that this system is determined more The world is thus a given constraint to a designer
by internal computations than by information flows which can only be described as a fact, distinguished
coming from outside. But it presupposes that one from the other modifiable world that must be
must suspend the concept of the objective external prescribed, and becomes a matter of choice and
world. Instead of having a system that projects the responsibility, and a question of value.
world in which it is living and interacting, we have a The world described within the design
system that through its closure is producing a world. programme, representing the uncontrollable part of
The world as we look at it is, in this sense, more the the design problem, follows the language of physics
result of a cumulative historic construction based on in the description of site and skies, and that of
our experiences than an objective scene projected on biology in the description of the eye and its
a tabula rasa, freed from all the preconceptions of behaviour. The world described in the design
previous knowledge. process, meaning the controllable part of design,
Comparing the two concepts, Varela defines follows the language of architecture.
those systems which are determined from the outside
as heteronomous (they correspond to the former Parameters and Variables of the Design System
position), and those systems whose behaviour is Synthetically, the designer's task consists of
determined from the inside as autonomous (they choosing the controllable causes and adjusting them
correspond to the latter position) (4). in such a way that, under the circumstances defined
This implies that the colours and shapes of by the uncontrollable causes, desired effects are
objects we see are determined not only by features of obtained. These desired controllable effects (the
the light we receive from these objects. We should luminous performances of the built environment)
understand that these experiences of shapes and constitute the architect's goal, whereas it is in
colours correspond to a specific state and pattern of choosing and adjusting the controllable causes (the
activity of the nervous system. This is demonstrated shapes of apertures in the building envelope) that the
by the fact that we can correlate the names of colours architect exercises discretion.
with states of neuronal activity, not just with To clarify the fundamental design distinction
wavelengths. What states of neuronal activity are between the uncontrollable and the controllable parts
triggered by the different light perturbations are of the environment, it will be convenient from now
determined in each person by his, or her, individual on to talk of measures of the system, which is what
structure and not only by the features of the an architect does when using terms such as
perturbing agent. We do not see the "space" of an luminance or brightness. Let us then define:
external world; we live our field of vision. We do not • design variables as measures of the controllable
see the "colours" of that world; we live our causes, the design configurations or the
chromatic space. The circularity which connects architectural types;
action and experience, the inseparability between a • independent variables as measures of the
particular way of being and how the world appears to uncontrollable causes (the site skies) and effects
us, tells us that every act of knowing brings forth a (the eye's responses to light stimuli);
world; every act of knowing a lit built environment • dependent variables as measures of the
brings forth an architectural world. controllable effects (the luminous environment).
Everything seen is seen by someone, whose The handling of a building's parameters must be
competence in visual language allows their luminous driven by considering the effects/consequences to
world to be distinguished. What is shared is the improve the visual environment of the building. In
language, not the world, and as language brings forth order to control these effects/consequences one must
its world we tend to mistake one thing for the other. know how visual perception operates and what
The circularity taking place in visual perception is requirements are necessary to improve the visual
not a subjective one, it belongs to a linguistic built environment.
community.
In the interpretation of an architectural
knowledge of the luminous environment, one can DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
consider the distinction between a part of the world
whose state should be modified and another whose The Human Eye
state should be preserved. The part not within design Vision is a whole perceptual system. One sees
control becomes a constraint, the context of design, the environment not just with the eyes, but with the
on which one has to base the part under design eyes - in the head - on the shoulders - of a body -
control. The former part becomes the uncontrollable that moves about. Vision does not have a seat in the
variable, about which a designer must obtain all the body in the way that the mind has been thought to be
needed information to prepare the design seated in the brain. We look at details with the eyes,
programme. The latter part becomes the controllable but we also look around with the mobile head, and
variable on which decisions must be taken. we go on looking with the mobile body. The
 Light and Human Requirements 2.3

perceptual capacities of the organism do not lie in because of the concentration of cones. The ability to
discrete parts of the body but in systems with nested discriminate among wavelengths of light is believed
functions. to be due to a combination of photo-chemical and
From a strictly physical point of view, the neurological processes. Signals from three cone
human eye is a complex sensory organ which types are coded in the retina and the lateral
converts the light energy it receives from the spatial geniculate body (in the brain) into chromatic and
and temporal relationships of objects in visual space achromatic information. The chromatic information
into electrical signals for processing by the brain. is a result of a subtraction of incoming signals, while
The human eye system can be considered as being the achromatic information (luminance) is a result of
structured into two specialised interacting sets of an additive mechanism.
components (Figure 2). The outputs of the middle and long wavelength
• the optic components (cornea, crystalline lens, cone systems (receptor levels) are summed to
pupil and intra-ocular humours) provide luminance information; the short wavelength
• the neural components (retina and optic nerve). cones are believed to contribute negligibly to
luminance information.
Chromatic information is derived from defining
differences in the output of the three cone systems
and the combined perception is a mixture of the
chromatic and achromatic channels (Figure. 3).

CORTEX
(BRAIN)

LATERAL
GENICULATE
BODY (BRAIN)

RECEPTOR
■
LEVEL (EYE)
BLUE GREEN RED
Figure 2 - Horizontal cross-section through CONES CONES CONES
human eye.
1 ciliary ligament, 2 iris, 3 lens, 4 cornea, 5 choroid,
6 sclera, 7 vitreous body, 8 retina, Figure 3 - A model of the biological colour vision
9 macula lutea, 10 optic nerve, 11 blind spot system.

When light rays from an object pass through the

cornea, the lens, and the vitreous body, they are The cornea and lens focus light on the multi-
refracted so that an inverted image is fointed on the layered retina which transmits impulses through the
retina, which is a light-sensitive film. The rays are optic nerve to the brain. The size of the pupil is
focused on the macula lutea, the retinal region where controlled by the iris - the larger the pupil, the
cones are numerous. Their name derives from their greater the amount of light admitted into the eye.
flask-like shape. Cones contain pigments which Under conditions of high luminance (eg bright skies
make them sensitive to colour. In dim light, we outdoors), the iris reduces the size of the pupil so less
depend more on rods for vision. These cylindrically- light is admitted. Luminance perception is normally
shaped receptors are distributed throughout most of limited to within a brightness range up to a factor of
the retina. Both rods and cones contain 1000.
photosensitive pigments whose chemical structure This ability of the eye to control the amount of
alters in the presence of light. The changes occurring light it admits and to change the sensitivity of the
in rods and cones in turn trigger electrical impulses retina is called adaptation. The ability of the eye to
in nerve cells in the retina, which are then focus light on the retina from one distance to another
transmitted to the optic nerves of the brain by changing the shape of the lens is called
Central (foveal) vision permits one to see much accommodation. For near vision (6 m), the curvature
finer detail than peripheral vision; it represents the of the lens is increased, the pupil is constricted by the
detailed visual acuity of the eyes. Foveal vision also iris, and the lines of sight of both eyes converge on a
provides the most acute colour discrimination common point (Figure. 4).
2.4 Daylighting in Architecture

The visual field is a small area, roughly oval in

shape, with a clear centre and soft boundaries, seen
when both the head and the eyes are motionless (6).
We can define:
• central field - within a visual angle of 2 °
• background - within a visual angle of 40 °
• environment - up to 120 degrees vertical and 180
degrees horizontal visual angle.
The visual world is the larger area covered when
the head and eyes are moving and thus has no centre
of sharp definition but is clear everywhere.
While contrast detection may be considered the
Figure 4 - Change in form and position of the lens simplest visual function, visual acuity is somewhat
during accommodation. more complex. The word "acuity" is often used to
describe the visibility of fine details involved in
various kinds of displays. Several different kinds of
Contrast detection is the basic task from which acuity can be recognised, such as resolution acuity
all other visual behaviour is derived; we can say that and recognition acuity.
we see by contrast. The visual system gives virtually Visual acuity means the sharpness of vision,
no useful information when the retina is uniformly measured by the smallest size of detail which can be
illuminated, but is highly specialised in informing seen at a given distance. Visual acuity, like detection,
about luminous discontinuities and gradients in the varies with exposure duration and luminance. The
visual field. operation of the law of diminishing returns can easily
When an obstruction is placed in the light path, as in be seen in the relation between visual acuity and
Figure 5, all neurones of the lower layer remain inactive, surface luminance of the task.
except the one at the edge of the obstruction, for it receives The graph in Figure 6 (7) shows that less
two excitatory signals from the sensor to the left (3). illumination is needed when the object size is
increased (eg using large type, magnifying lenses or
enlarging spectacles).

Visual
acuity

Figure 5 - Contrast detection. Obstruction placed in

the light path illuminating the layer of receptors (3).

Ino)
Human visual perception is based on the Luminance (cd/m 2 )
existence of contrasts of light and shade and contrast
of colour. The term contrast is used in both a
physical sense and a perceptual sense. It involves the Figure 6 - Visual acuity against task luminance for
assessment of the difference in appearance of two or surround fields of different angular subtends.
more parts of the visual field seen simultaneously or The luminance of the task and surround
successively, for example brightness contrast, colour areas were equal (7).
contrast, successive contrast in dynamic lighting
situations involving movement.
Optic nerves from the two eyes follow the paths to Vision and Age
the visual cortex. At the optic chiasma, fibres from half Visual performance decreases from the late
of one retina cross to join fibres from the corresponding twenties onwards. Old eyes have reduced visual
half of the other retina at the lateral geniculate body. The acuity because of yellowing of the lens; they require
ability of the brain to perceive the images from both more time for adaptation, a higher illumination level,
eyes as a single image is called binocular vision (vision and an optimum contrast of the visual task to achieve
by one eye alone is called monocular vision). The visual the best visual performance (Figure 7) (8).
fields of the two eyes overlap to some extent (5).
 Light and Human Requirements 2.5

as by inadequate illumination, but eye damage can

1 2 3 only be caused by over-exposure to light.
Today, with the more widespread diffusion of
E television and VDU, visible light itself is viewed as
0
potentially harmful to the eye and, although
relatively high retinal illuminances are required to
cause damage, the new high efficiency sources
potentially provide enough energy to be damaging.
young For the first time, safe viewing limits are being
B middle age proposed for visible radiation.
C old As well as its ability to stimulate vision, light
illuminance acts on the body in many other ways. In recent years
these non-visual effects have become of interest and
concern to the illuminating engineer because of the
Fig. 7 - Model of general relationship between visual rapid expansion of photo-biological techniques in
performance and illuminance for three age groups, medicine and because of the controversy surrounding
young, middle age and old. At high levels of the safety of some lamps.
illuminance the visual performance of the three The most prevalent notion is basically that light
groups is very similar. At low illuminances there are is for seeing and has no effects on people, other than
very large differences in performance (8) ultraviolet light which is harmful. Normal glass
eliminates most ultraviolet light. Plastics
manufacturers put special UV filters into translucent
The increase in the absorption and scattering of products to prevent damage to the material. Artificial
light in the eye and a recession of the near point, that lights use various segments of the spectrum but
is the closest point to the eye where clear images can rarely UV.
be achieved, becomes increasingly more evident One of the most controversial issues in the
around the age of 40. This effect can be overcome by lighting community is the statistical relationship
the use of spectacles. between fluorescent lighting and malignant
melanoma, a particularly dangerous form of skin
Light and Health cancer. Unless data derived from research studies on
Eye health is sometimes put forward as a the matter become more consistent, controversy will
justification for high levels of illumination, with the remain.
implication that low levels of illumination will Light, besides being indispensable for visual
damage the eye. perception, also regulates metabolic processes in the
Recent research studies developed in the USA human body, and exerts an influence on its
have demonstrated that there is no generally accepted i mmunological state, i.e. the body's resistance to
evidence that poor illumination results in organic unfavourable agents, such as pathogenic organisms.
harm to the eyes, any more than indistinct sounds Lighting conditions indoors also have a considerable
damage the ears or foul smells damage the nose. influence on the state of mind, and so affect the
The need for wearing glasses arises only from psychological, psycho-emotional and general health
organic causes, not from inadequate illumination of human beings.
levels. What some researchers are now suggesting is
Complaints which occur whenever a task is that there seems to be a layer of the retina which has
visually difficult, no matter whether the difficulty no function in vision, but serves as a receptor for
arises from poor lighting, from the inherent features light-waves, which are then carried along non-
of the task, from inadequacies in the individual visual-connected fibres of the optic nerve to the
visual system or from some combination of these master endocrine glands - the pituitary and pineal
elements, are all temporary, so that with rest, the glands in the brain that control the entire metabolic
symptoms disappear. system. The components of light taken in through the
The most common complaints caused by visual eye may turn out to be as critical as the kinds of
work in poor conditions are eyestrain in various foods eaten.
forms, muscular aches and pain, and more general So light that is significantly different in spectral
reactions such as fatigue, irritability and headaches. nature from sunlight may cause the metabolic
Eyestrain may indeed result from the effort of trying equivalent of malnutrition. Alterations to the light
to overcome difficult viewing conditions such as spectrum taken in could be a factor in metabolic
those presented by Visual Display Units, but the disorders (9).
strain is only a temporary discomfort and does no Daylight is also involved in the setting of the
damage to the eye. Eyestrain can be caused by glare - "biological clock" and its associated rhythms. A lack
excessively bright light in the field of view - as well of light for long periods, particularly such as during
2.6 Daylighting in Architecture

the winter seasons in the polar regions, can also dominated vision. The peak response then occurs at a
manifest itself as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) wavelength of 507 nm. This visible portion is a
where a general lethargy and depression may set in at function of the sensitivity curve as shown in the
the onset of winter. Of particular significance to the graph of Figure 8 (10).
architect, this effect could be present in occupants of
deep-plan artificially lit buildings where, although spectral luminous efficiency
adequate for visual tasks, the artificial illumination is 1.0
1111111111111111111/11111211111111111111111111
insufficient to trigger the necessary physiological
response.
0.9
0.8 munommummumm
0.7
1111111111111111111X111111101111111111111111111
The Physics of Light 0.6 111111111111=1111111111111111111111111111
In describing the optical parameters of the visual 0.5
system we will distinguish light as physical energy, 0.4 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
IMMINUMNIM111111111111
light as a stimulus for vision, and light as information 0.3
0.2 sear suuirrsimss
111811111116111111111111111111111111131111111111
for perception.
The human environment is exposed to a wide 0.1
variety of natural and man-made energy sources that 0
emit energy within various bands of the 04 05 0.6 0.7
wavelength (.1m)
electromagnetic spectrum. Radiant energy
propagates through empty space at great velocity.
Such energy can he treated either as particles or as Fig. 8 - The visible spectrum and colour perception:
waves, but it travels in straight lines or rays. normal vision (unbroken line) and vision adapted to
The human eye, considered as a photo-chemical low illuminance levels (dashed line)
device, can only perceive light with wavelengths
between about 380 nm and 770 nm. Precise limits
cannot be set because they depend on the intensity Often people are inclined to think about lighting
reaching the retina and the visual acuity of the design, and for that matter buildings, in terms of a
observer, black and white visual environment. It is important
to consider the importance of colour as the
TABLE I - The optical radiation spectrum characteristic of light by which a human observer
may distinguish the difference between two
Category Wavelength Action structure-free patches of light of the same size and
Range[nm] shape. Furthermore, colour can affect human tension,
brain-wave function, heart rate, respiration, and other
functions of the nervous system.
Ultraviolet: Light and pigment create similar visual stimuli.
UV-C 200-280 Germicidal Pigment colour is usually specified in terms of three
UV-B 280-315 Actinic (tanning) characteristics: hue, value and chroma. Coloured
UV-A 315-380 Ocular Effects light is described by three analogous terms: hue,
brightness and saturation.
Visible 380-770 Light, Vision Hue defines the basic colour. Dominant hues
include red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Value or
Infrared: brightness is the subjective sensation of reflectance
IR-A 760-1400 Thermal only or brightness, the light or dark appearance of a
IR-B 1400-3000 colour. Chroma or saturation is the intensity of a hue
IR-C >3000 (11). The Munsell system of colour specification
enables any colour to be identified in terms of the
above three main attributes of colour that are
significant for a designer.
The light-adapted eye has its greatest sensitivity The term "colour temperature" relates the colour
at 555 nm, which, when expressed in terms of of a completely radiating (black body) source at a
perceived colour, is in the green-yellow region. The particular temperature, to light sources whose colour
sensitivity to red light beyond 700 nm is very low. match such a body. The qualities of light emitted by
The perceptual sensitivity of the eye to violet heated objects depend on the temperature of the
radiation with wavelengths below 400 nm is also radiating object and this fact is used to describe the
very low. colour of light. The perceived colours of "black
Under conditions of very low illumination, the bodies" at different temperatures depend on the state
eye, after a period of time, adapts to give an of adaptation of the observer (Figure 9).
enhanced response based on rod- as opposed to cone-
 Light and Human Requirements 2.7

Skies and their Light Variables

Blue northwest sky
Over millions of years the only principal source
of light has been daylight. From a strictly physical
-15000--
point of view, daylight is defined as the part of the
energy spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted
Blue sky with thin by the sun within the visible wave-band that is
white clouds
Blue sky
received at the surface of the earth after absorption
and scattering in the earth's atmosphere. When
considering the direct, diffuse, and ground-reflected
7500k -8000----- components, sunlight represents the direct
high CRI fluorescents Average north sky
-7000-- component of daylight . Since sunlight covers the
Uniform overcast sky
Short arc zenon
entire spectrum of solar radiation, designers must
Average noon sky carefully consider the shorter wavelengths (UV) that
5000k
high CRI fluorescents Average mixture of can damage sensitive materials and produce heat, and
CW & CWX sun and skylight the longer wavelengths (IR) that also produce heat.
fluorescents
Deluxe white mercury The spectral distribution varies with the time of the
Warm deluxe mercury
day, the season, the height above sea level and
WW & WWX atmospheric conditions.
fluorescents -3000- 100-watt
incandescent lamp The problems of daylighting involve the
25-watt assessment of lighting generated from natural
High pressure sodium incandescent lamp sources (sun and sky) at a certain reference point. It
Candle flame is therefore a matter of analysing the light flux
generated by these sources and the illumination they
produce.
Apart from the geometrical correlations that
Fig. 9 - Correlated colour temperature (°K), of exist between light sources and reference points, the
several electric light and daylight sources magnitude of the light flux depends upon the
radiance of the source.
The illumination produced by the sky depends
The degree to which the perceived colours of an on its luminance. The intensity of illumination from
object, illuminated by a source of light, conform to direct sunlight on a clear day varies with the
the colours of the same object illuminated by a thickness of the air mass it passes through. It is less
standard source of light is defined as colour intense at sunrise and sunset at any latitude; and at
rendering . The colour rendering index (CRI) is a noon it is less intense at high latitudes because the
value used to determine how closely a light source sun is lower.
matches the standard source, daylight, at a given The masters of architecture through history have
colour temperature. demonstrated a very good understanding of sky
conditions but the advent of electric lighting has
Direct and Indirect Sources of Light distracted designers from considering the sky under
Some material bodies emit light, and others do which they have to build.
not. Light comes from sources such as the sun in the Sky luminance varies according to a series of
sky and from other sources close at hand on the earth meteorological, seasonal, and geometrical parameters
such as fires or lamps. They "give" light, as we say, that are difficult to codify. In view of this problem
whereas ordinary objects do not. Non-luminous some models of standard skies have been worked
objects only reflect some part of the light that falls on out, and simplified references can be made to some
them from a source, and yet we can see the non- other limited conditions.
luminous bodies along with the luminous ones. In The simplest model is the Uniform Luminance
fact most of the things that need to be seen are non- Sky Distribution (Figure 10), which represents a sky
luminous, they are only seen by reflected light. of constant luminance (that does not vary with
We will refer to daylight and artificial light as geometrical parameters), and which pertains to a
direct sources of light, and to all surfaces reflecting meteorological situation corresponding to a sky .
light as indirect sources .Where the average daylight covered with thick, milky-white clouds, an
illuminance of an interior is inadequate for the atmosphere full of dust and where the sun not visible.
activities taking place within it, artificial lighting is Another model is called the CIE Standard
used to supplement the task lighting and the lighting Overcast Sky Distribution (Figure 11), where the
of the room in general. Historically, artificial light luminance is not uniform but varies in accordance
has evolved from fire, to candles and oil lamps up to with geometrical parameters, and which pertains to a
electric light. For a more extensive description of meteorological situation that corresponds to a sky
artificial light characteristics, refer to Chapter 6. covered with light cloud in a clear atmosphere,