Daylighting starting to see the light of day

An example of a building using windows to allow natural light to illuminate the interior. It's a concept dubbed "daylighting." (Photo courtesy of www.daylighting.org)

By Jan Basina

Call it a combination of art and science, logical thinking and common sense: reduce the need for electric lighting during the day and connect people to the outdoors.

Is this a daydream? Or an idea light years away?

Nope, it’s happening now.

It’s a concept called daylighting. And more and more developers are planning projects incorporating this technology.

The reasoning fueling this concept is to use natural lighting to illuminate buildings to reduce the need for electric lights, thereby reducing energy costs. It also provides an added benefit — natural lighting has shown to improve a person’s well-being and increase productivity in the workplace.

In fact, The Daylighting Collaborative, created by the Energy Center of Wisconsin, is a place to find all available information on the subject from research to design recommendations.

The Daylighting Collaborative began as a source to explain how windows, strategically placed in buildings, could take optimum advantage of the sun’s rays — all for a fraction of the cost of even the most efficient electric lights.

But with growing interest in the energy-savings benefits and research of the other nonenergy related benefits, the Daylighting Collaborative and its website now not only provide information, but act as a portal to other existing information on daylighting.

And as more and more of us are turning to the sun for our energy needs, the lofty vision of The Daylighting Collaborative might, at one time, been only a daydream.

But not anymore.

As The Daylighting Collaborative’s vision states, “Light every building using the sky.”

Jan Basina, who sits next to a huge skylight at the office in Milwaukee, is a data reporter at The Daily Reporter. In the effort of full disclosure, she also has electrical lighting directly over her desk.