Utilising daylight in buildings is an important technique for both reducing energy use and providing a comfortable, more natural environment for the occupants

Designing for daylight involves a number of steps

1. First the site and the building form must be assessed for the availability of daylight. This is particularly important in a built up area. If access to daylight is poor then there is little point in attempting to design for daylight: glazing ratios would need to be very large and this may make controlling other environmental factors very difficult.
2. If access is OK then window sizes and positions will influence the quantity and distribution of daylight, these need to be determined.
3. Finally the more specific details of the interior geometry and surfaces will be influencial, these are best determined using computer aided techniques.

Introduction

Simple Tools

Daylight Planning

Sizing/Positioning

Computer Tools

Daylight

Relux

Other Modelling