Energy Saving With Daylight
Posted: October 6th, 2009 | Author: Kevan Shaw | Filed under: Blog | 5 Comments »
The subject of energy saving has been always among the most important aims of the sustainable design from the very beginning; to preserve our resources for the future generations as well as saving our surrounding environment, both natural and built environment, are the basic ideas of sustainability regarding the energy issues. Going towards renewable and clean sources and reducing our dependence to the fossil fuels or nuclear powers is another aim that every society is having in their minds nowadays.
Knowing the Sun as our best energy source as well as the most natural and suitable light source among all has made us think about how to use it in different ways. Using the solar radiation to heat up the space in winter is the most primitive, but most effective way of using the solar energy, although there has been so much effort to use it in many other ways as well; all of the solar passive, active or hybrid systems are the outcome of these efforts. The availability of sunlight should be the very essence for
these kinds of uses; in some parts of the world like Sweden there is almost no sunlight in winter time to be used to heat up the buildings or inner spaces.
Using the sunlight as an energy source will be a very good idea that helps us save or even generate energy using the sun. On the other hand, the daylight, if used in a clever way, can help us save a greater amount of energy by not using the electric lights. According to a study by Phillips in 2005, between 19 to 30% of the whole energy consumed by office spaces in Europe is used for electric lighting, which can be reduced half of this number by replacing it with day lighting when available.
Knowing about all of the benefits concerning daylight, the question will be how to really save energy and create the best comfort for the inside space when it comes to practical use of daylight. The daylight (both sunlight and skylight), should be fetteredOn the other hand, using the daylight will not save us any energy if the electric lights are still on in the
space. The integration of the daylight in electric lighting systems is another very important issue related to day lighting. The new developments in control systems has made possible to integrate the daylight in a very effective way; a dynamic lighting solution consisting of light sensors, dimmable light sources, and finally a programmable interface that reacts in the daylight conditions in a correct way, might be a
future solution for many different kinds of spaces to save energy by using daylight., reduced and diffused enough to be compatible for inner spaces. Different types of shadings, depending on their shape, material and characteristics, have different effects of the daylight that makes them specifically used for certain purposes.
At the end, the integration of daylight in lighting design solutions will be a new solution for saving energy, if it is done in an appropriate way, taking care of the technical difficulties or side issues that come with such an idea. A very well organized system with the consideration of all aspect might be the way of future in this matter.
By: Meysam Tabibzadeh
Student of M. A.L.D., KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
M. Arch., IUST, Iran University of Science and Technology,Tehran, Iran
Hello,
Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.
Thank you Kevan for putting it up….
Thanks to have this paper for discussion. I am practicing in daylight rich country where there is almost 300 days of daylight. However, the changing lifestyle do not optimise the daylight rich places for work. If people change their working hour respect to seasonal daylight clock we can almost save (3hrs a dayX 6days a week X4 weeks a month X 12months) hrs of electric light usage out of (200hrs a month X 12 Months). This means substantial savings. We have been trying to pursue our client for this but untill the social system changes he can’t take benifit of daylight rich architecture at its most. And with his financial constrains he can’t go for sensors and controls integration. Point is, when we are talking at climate summits, where policy level discussions are made, can’t we have some simple resolutions life changing the working hours at mass level to optimise the daylight. When this is done, I feel there will be more room for celebrating daylight rich architecture.
I can get the point of your comment and agree with it to some extend. But as I have seen in many different examples almost all over the world, there is a rapidly growing tendency towards day lighting, both by Architects and engineers.
It is an unavoidable event that fossil fuels as the main sources of our energy are ending soon. This fact, together with the fact that other energy sources are not safe, easy and accessible enough to replace them will eventually lead in a vast increase in energy costs. A change that will change all the economical balances and arguments for the next 10 years.
On the other hand, there are many ways of using daylight in Architecture space, not necessarily mean that we should or should not use the integrated control systems. Many different Architectural solutions, from a simple window screen to complicated combination systems and solutions are being built to capture more daylight inside the space.
But being aware of the more suffisticated systems with better daylight efficiency and less side issues, will open our eyes as designers to be ready for the future that will eventually come, giving us more options in mind to deal with Daylight, Energy and other issues regarding future Architecture or Lighting Design…..
Climate change is a global problem, and yet each one of us has the power to make a difference. Even small changes in our daily behaviour can help prevent greenhouse gas emissions without affecting our quality of life. In fact, they can help save us money!