How Much Does Daylighting Controls Add To Construction Cost

The virtues of daylighting are well-known – better employee satisfaction, reduced absence, and a more than aesthetically pleasing space. Just in an existing building, it's not easy or cost-effective to put a large window in a wall that wasn't originally designed to hold it.

Fortunately, existing buildings tin can still maximize sunlight use without making structural changes.

What Resources Are Available?
Your existing resource will determine the scope of what you lot tin accomplish. Many factors will impact your decision, including:

Edifice type
Budget
Size of existing windows, roof monitors, and/or skylights
Building systems and controls

"Controlling the experience is the about critical aspect of incorporating daylight into a building," says Janet Cecchettini, manager of lighting education for Juno Lighting Group by Schneider Electrical. "There are pitfalls to daylighting that are not evidenced by an ROI adding, such every bit glare and reflected glare, room temperature variations, and distraction due to changes in light levels."

Assess the percent of useful daylight entering the infinite to determine how it tin improve. The Daylighting Pattern Guide, a free tool provided by the New Buildings Plant at patternguide.advancedbuildings.cyberspace, demonstrates the outcome you tin can achieve with unlike windows and other changes.

"Variations in the pattern shows how much usable daylight y'all're getting," explains Affront Hamilton, lighting manager for the New Buildings Institute. "Your edifice might only get 25 to 30% useful daylight, just yous could get it up to 60 or 70%."

Low-Cost Fixes
If your building occupants are complaining about too much daylight, consider adding or changing your blinds to cut down on the calorie-free entering the space. Task lights can also address an unwanted surplus of light by allowing you lot to cutting downward on both natural and artificial light.
"If users are complaining about eye fatigue or headaches or there's besides much daylight, adding a task light might help," says Hamilton. "It increases the illumination on the work surface so you can reject the other lighting further. Later on you look at these options, you might alter luminaire parts."

If your upkeep allows, purchase plastic or glass partitions that lite tin can penetrate when your cloth partitions are almost the end of their useful life, Hamilton adds.

Smart Infinite Usage
In some cases, you may be able to maximize the use of inbound light past rearranging space layout. Obstacles that cake the path of sunlight prevent light from flowing freely throughout your space.
"With a partition layout, the available daylight plummets as segmentation heights approach 72 inches," Hamilton says. "For the price of irresolute out the ones that are running parallel to the windows, you could potentially increase your penetration of daylighting."

This change is slowly catching on with designers, says Jeff Spencer, Juno'due south director of production management – commercial. The emphasis on daylighting is fifty-fifty changing the way some view the function itself.

"Commercial office space is being rethought. In days gone by, being an executive meant a corner office with lots of windows," Spencer explains. "At present executive offices are being moved to the edifice core to permit natural light to penetrate more deeply into the infinite."

Take Command
Lighting control systems – such every bit daylight harvesting sensors, dimmers, and occupancy or move sensors – volition help you brand the all-time use of your bogus lighting systems, equally will switching some of your fixtures to LED or other efficient sources of light.
"Consider the service model afterward you complete the projection that supports your daylight harvesting organisation," says Heath Martin, product director for lighting controls at Schneider Electric. "Lamp changes should be done per the scheduled lamp life. Also, take advantage of seasonal and time savings changes by editing the footcandle set points to get the virtually out of ambience light."

Janelle Penny (janelle.penny@buildings.com) is associate editor of BUILDINGS.

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Janelle Penny has more a decade of experience in journalism, with a special emphasis on covering facilities management. She aims to deliver practical, actionable content for facilities professionals.