After nearly a century when electric lighting has dominated the design of building interiors, a return to the use of daylight as the main ambient light source is motivated by energy, environmental, and health considerations. Good daylighting of building interiors not only promotes low energy use, it has the potential to (re)connect humans to the natural cycle of day and night, which promotes health and well-being. Light is especially important to people in the Nordic countries because it is scarce for a large part of the year and over-abundant around the summer solstice. The unique character of daylight provided by the Nordic sky-with its weak intensity in the winter and low sun angles in the summer-demands careful study and attention, as it is more precious than in any other location.

The current context of densifying cities makes it increasingly difficult to provide sufficient amounts of daylight in buildings under Nordic sky conditions, especially in winter. Analyses using advanced building simulation programs are often needed to predict daylight levels and adjust the building design accordingly. The relevant building regulations and certification schemes need to be understood in depth if they are to be followed by design practitioners. In addition, state-of-the-art electric lighting technologies such as LEDs and advanced control systems require a good integration with daylighting design. Addressing these issues, this book provides the essential knowledge and background to students and practicing professionals who wish to tackle the challenging endeavor of illuminating buildings under a Nordic sky using daylight as the main ambient light source, supplemented by energy-efficient electric lighting systems.

More information about the book here

ISBN:9789144125770

Daylight is a dynamic source of illumination in architectural space, creating diverse and ephemeral configurations of light and shadow within the built environment.  It can generate contrasting levels of brightness between distinct geometries or it can highlight smooth gradients of texture and color within the visual field.  Perceptual qualities of daylight, such as contrast and temporal variability, are essential to our understanding of both material and visual effects in architecture. With that in mind, how can architects measure the impacts of these dynamic and perceptual effects of daylight and compare them to other, task-based illumination and comfort metrics?

Under the rapidly growing context of energy conscious research, we need to re-balance our definition of “performance” to include those perceptual and aesthetic aspects of light that are often disregarded by the world of simulation. Contrast is important to the definition of space and it is essential in understanding how architecture is enhanced and transformed over time by the dynamic and variable characteristics of daylight. Although there are a growing number of studies that seek to define the relationship between brightness, contrast, and lighting quality, the dynamic role of daylight within the visual field is underrepresented by existing metrics. Although spatial contrast and light variability are fundamental to the visual experience of architecture; architects still rely primarily on intuition and experience to evaluate their designs, because there are few, if any, metrics that address these factors.

New metrics that addresses this challenge could help designers to contextualize the relative strength and temporal stability of contrast within a given architectural space, which would open up a new dimension in architectural performance. Through an analysis of contemporary architecture from around the world, we have developed a new typological language that categorizes architectural space in terms of contrast and temporal variation. This research proposes a new family of metrics that quantify the magnitude of contrast-based visual effects and time-based variation within daylit space through the use of time-segmented daylight renderings to provide a more holistic analysis of daylight performance.

For more information please visit: http://www.springer.com/computer/theoretical+computer+science/book/978-1-4471-5232-3

ISBN 978-1-4471-5233-0

The Daylighting Handbook I is the first volume in a series of upcoming books on daylighting and other sustainable building design concepts. The book is organized into two parts, Fundamentals and Designing with the Sun. Fundamentals serves as a general introduction to daylighting (chapter 2), its implementation and its daily and seasonal availability (chapter 3). It also explains how light helps us to perceive the world around us and to maintain our circadian rhythm (chapter 4). A practical approach to building massing via rules of thumb is provided in chapter 5. Designing with the Sun introduces methods to determine where the sun is located in the sky throughout the year (chapter 6). Chapter 7 shows how this information can be used to design static shading devices. Heliodon studies using physical models are discussed in chapter 8.

Start reading here: http://mit.edu/tito_/www/DaylightingHandbook/_resources/daylighting_handbook_ch1.pdf

About the author Christoph Reinhart is a building scientist and architectural educator working in the field of sustainable building design and environmental modeling. Before joining MIT in 2012, Christoph led the sustainable design concentration area at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design where the student forum voted him the “2009 Teacher of the Year.” Before that he had worked for over a decade at the National Research Council of Canada and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany. At MIT he is leading the Sustainable Design Lab. He has authored over 120 scientific articles, and the design tools originating from his group – such as DAYSIM , DIVA and umi – are used in practice and education in over 90 countries. He originally studied physics in Freiburg, Germany, and holds a doctorate in architecture from the Technical University of Karlsruhe.

More information can be found at www.DaylightingHandbook.com. The book is available on Amazon.com.

This second edition contains a comprehensive and in-depth presentation of lighting fundamentals. The text continues to focus on both natural and artificial lighting and includes chapters on Design Tools and the Design Process. Case studies have also been added, providing helpful exercises for the engineering student. The addition of topics such as energy efficiency, computer programs, and urban design will also appeal to architectural students. The text will continue to be the single, comprehensive resource for illumination education.

ISBN-10: 0070205876 | ISBN-13: 978-0070205871

This work provides architects with the necessary conceptual framework and analytical tools to integrate daylighting into building design at the earliest stages. The author includes numerous examples and model studies with an emphasis on predictive techniques.

ISBN-10: 0442006799 | ISBN-13: 978-0442006792

For some time the building industry has been in need of a comprehensive reference that describes new and innovative technologies for utilizing daylight in buildings and assesses the performance of these systems. This information is of particular benefit to building design practitioners, lighting engineers, product manufacturers, building owners, and property managers. This book is the result of a coordinated international effort to gather the most up-to-date information available about the application and evaluation of advanced daylighting systems to enhance daylighting in non-residential buildings. Although the text emphasizes the performance of daylighting systems, it also includes a survey of architectural solutions, which addresses both conventional and innovative systems as well as their integration in building design. Innovative daylighting systems are assessed according to their energy savings potential, visual characteristics, and control of solar radiation.

ASIN: B004HGAQE8

As part of Daylight Europe, the daylighting behaviour of 60 buildings was observed and measured during a three year period. Buildings of many different types, sizes and ages were included – from offices to museums, libraries, churches, houses, airports and factories; from Classical buildings to modern constructions, and from a small single room to an office of over 100,000 square meters. The results of the study of each building are presented, extensively illustrated in colour, with the unusual features and main lessons highlighted. The book also includes details of the monitoring procedures, the results of and comparisons with simulations, the outcome of post-occupancy evaluation, and a summary of the major findings. These show the extraordinary potential of daylighting techniques to improve amenity and energy performance for the benefit of the occupants and building managers. They also demonstrate how often opportunities are missed, and the frequency of problems of overheating or glare. Above all, they demonstrate the beauty, elegance and scope of daylight design.

ISBN-10: 1873936877 | ISBN-13: 978-1873936870

Typically one third of the energy used in many buildings may be consumed by electric lighting. Good daylighting design can reduce electricity consumption for lighting and improve standards of visual comfort, health and amenity for the occupants.As the only comprehensive text on the subject written in the last decade, the book will be welcomed by all architects and building services engineers interested in good daylighting design. The book is based on the work of 25 experts from all parts of Europe who have collected, evaluated and developed the material under the auspices of the European Commission’s Solar Energy and Energy Conservation R&D Programmes.

ISBN-10: 1849713006 | ISBN-13: 978-1849713009

The availability of electric lighting has changed the lives of people the world over and lighting is a major consumer of energy, yet little has been written about the forms of lighting that can alter human visual capabilities and enhance productivity, ensure comfort and create appropriate lighting conditions. It is important to understand the forms of lighting available, and their appropriateness to specific activities, in order to apply the technology most effectively.

This book is a comprehensive review of the interaction of people and lighting and supercedes the author’s classic Human Factors in Lighting. The technology has changed markedly in recent years with the introduction of new light sources and new methods of light distribution. The significance of specialist lighting applications, such as photobiology, are now becoming better understood. The nature of work itself has changed, and hence so have lighting requirements. Equally, the development of the technology has created new opportunities for improving peoples’ work and leisure environments.

ISBN-10: 0748409505 | ISBN-13: 978-0748409501

“The extraordinary range of architecture [presented by Millet] coupled with the author’s lucid presentation of light as a rich and evocative part of design is central to what architects do, or ought to. This book fills a vast need for the design profession.” — M. Susan Ubbelohde, University of California, Berkeley “Marietta Millet takes us through ancient and contemporary buildings in a manner knowing and gracious, with a combination of universal principles and local details that informs and delights. This book will be a splendid contribution to the literature on lighting.” — John S. Reynolds, University of Oregon Published By John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

ISBN-10: 0471286443 | ISBN-13: 978-0471286448

This book provides basic theoretical information on environmental objectives and the process of visual perception and human needs as they relate to lighting design. Conventional strategies are analyzed and new methods explained, and practical objectives for lighting and their design implications are developed. The process of lighting is fully covered from programming through post-occupancy evaluation, including the use of models and mock-ups. Cost and energy savings are stressed throughout. This book should be of interest to professional architects, interior designers, landscape architects, lighting engineers, and undergraduates, graduates and college students of lighting design.

ISBN-10: 0070360944 | ISBN-13: 978-0070360945

Architecture/Environment – How to design buildings that heat with the sun, cool with the wind, light with the sky, and move into the future using on-site renewable resources. Developed for rapid use during schematic design, this book clarifies relationships between form and energy and gives designers tools for designing sustainably. It also: applies the latest passive energy and lighting design research; organizes information by architectural elements at three scales: building groups, individual buildings, and building parts; brings design strategies to life with examples and practical design tools, and features: 109 analysis techniques and design strategies, more than 750 illustrations, sizing graphs, and tables both inch-pound and metric units.

ISBN-10: 0471348775 | ISBN-13: 978-0471348771

“This book is for architects who are truly interested in how people feel in their buildings. Bill Lam gives a clear explanation of the properties of light, particularly sunlight, and provides an understandable guide to designing with light to create more livable architectural environments. His carefully considered and candid criticisms of buildings that have previously received unqualified praise by the architectural press provide a valuable learning experience. These appraisals, and the book’s many case studies, take the reader beyond the theoretical into the pragmatic reality of built buildings. Because the book contains such valuable reference data, it is one that all architects should read…and reter back id as they deal with the important issues of natural and artificial lighting in their practice.” – E. Verner Johnson, AIA.

ISBN-10: 0442259417 | ISBN-13: 978-0442259419

Architectural Lighting Design, Second Edition provides the programming prowess, technical background, aesthetic fundamentals, and practical knowledge needed to design interior and exterior lighting for homes, businesses, institutions, hotels, restaurants, and more.

This completely revised, fully updated, and expanded edition presents creative techniques for visualizing lighted spaces. It covers important new topics such as lighting and health, ADA issues, computer modeling techniques, light trespass and light pollution, sustainability, and more.

ISBN-10: 0471386383 | ISBN-13: 978-0471386384

Revised to incorporate and reflect changes and advances since it was first published the new edition of Architecture in a Climate of Change provides the latest basic principals of sustainability and the future of sustainable technology.

Including new material on wind generation, domestic water conservation, solar thermal electricity as well as international case studies Architecture in a Climate of Change encourages readers to consider new approaches to building making minimum demand on fossil based energy.

ISBN-10: 0750665440 | ISBN-13: 978-0750665445

Exciting new daylighting techniques for architectural design! Just as natural light reveals colors in a richer, truer spectrum, daylighting opens new perspectives for architectural design. Daylighting for Sustainable Design, by noted architectural thinker Mary Guzowski, gives you practical design strategies that create a brighter, greener architecture by weaving together environmental, architectonic, and humanistic factors. Daylighting encompasses sensitive land-use, energy conservation, the use of healthy materials, and waste-reduction; design, technological and mechanical factors; aesthetics and quality of life issues. This stimulating resource helps you adapt daylighting to your own work with: color illustrations that bring techniques vividly to life; case studies that illustrate how each principle can be implemented; checklist and design approach summaries; guides to daylighting resources, manufacturers, and specialist firms.

ISBN-10: 0070254397 | ISBN-13: 978-0070254398

Daylighting is the process of incorporating natural lighting into the design of buildings. The new edition of this concise resource makes theory, calculations, and execution crystal clear with straight-to-the-solution examples and uncluttered language. In a practical, applied approach, this book covers daylighting strategies, materials, and methods of construction, including significant advances in lighting and daylighting technology.

ISBN: 978-0471262992

When planning buildings in which people are to work and live, the efficient use of natural daylight and solar energy is increasingly important. The challenge is to compensate the different lighting requirements in winter and summer. Integrated daylight deflection systems distribute light into the interior of buildings, utilize and store solar energy to save artificial lighting, air-conditioning and heating costs. Extensively researched and impressively illustrated with a large number of computer simulations and photographs of built examples, this volume is more than an introduction to the basic principles, functions, designs and calculation methods of advanced light-guidance technology for architects, lighting designers, building and climate engineers. In particular it provides detailed documentation of the new Retro-Technology systems, explaining the role they can and do play in integrated façade and building design and planning processes.

ISBN-10: 376436730X | ISBN-13: 978-3764367305

The direct conversion of daylight into electricity by photovoltaic solar cells is one of the most promising of the renewable energy options. The importance of the technology is reflected in the growth in the field. What was largely technology for space programmes in 1976 produced 28.6 MW of terrestrial modules in 1987. The popularity of the technology can partly be explained by its versatility. Arrays of any size and voltage can be constructed from standard modules, with the conversion efficiency being practically independent from output. Photovoltaics are also well suited to on-site generation of power in remote areas. This book is intended primarily to give students, engineers and scientists entering the photovoltaics field an overview of all aspects of the subject, with pointers to further reading. However, by using simple language and avoiding jargon, an effort has been made to make the work useful and interesting to the general public.

ISBN-10: 0080409369 | ISBN-13: 978-0080409368

This guide shows how the concepts used in lighting design arise from the needs of the designer and the user. These concepts are shown in a practical context to enable you to develop and improve your design skills.

Through examples and exercises, this book makes it easier for the student to acquire the level of understanding, knowledge and skill required for both examinations and professional training purposes.

Over the past two decades there has been an increasing emphasis on the need for architects and building professionals to have a better understanding of lighting and the ability to deal with lighting matters within the context of the built environment. Lighting is no longer considered to be primarily the province of the electrical engineer. Previously a separate subject in the professional examinations, lighting is often now found in a more general area within an architecture or building course.

ISBN-10: 0750655526 | ISBN-13: 978-0750655521

Made of Light – the Art of Light and Architecture explores our illuminated world in a way that is both affecting and thought-provoking. Rather than addressing quantitive criteria, this book deliberately focuses on qualitative, ephemeral and abstract considerations and shows them to be an essential part of the relationship between light and built form. Made of Light is not intended to prescribe an approach; rather, it attempts to recognise that while we have our own, individual, subjective perception of light, there is also a dialogue to be had, through which this most exciting but elusive medium might be explored.
Jonathan Speirs and Mark Major was well-established authorities on light. Taking their cues from the natural world, their approach – at the forefront of lighting design – is both invigorating and inspirational. Edited by Anthony Tischhauser, this book includes an interview with both architects, as well as vivid illustrations of their personal approach to an architecture that is Made of Light.

ISBN-10: 3764368608 | ISBN-13: 978-3764368609

A look at the state of the art today and the windows of the future. Since the publication of the first edition, research has yielded much new information on window technologies, their performance, and their benefits. This revised edition covers every aspect of window design and technology and includes a much-expanded section on energy performance, with an extended list of climate zones and glazing options. New tools and methods for making window purchasing decisions are also explained.

ISBN-10: 0393730530 | ISBN-13: 978-0393730531

Uses a simple and practical approach to cover typical components and design of ordinary, uncomplicated systems for building lighting basics. Both natural lighting and electrical lighting are included and both the Commission Internationale d’Eclairage and IESNA methods are introduced for daylighting calculations. An expanded version of the point method is shown that covers all orientations instead of only orthogonal relationships. Along with terms and fixtures commonly used in the profession, each chapter includes numerous examples, ending with exercises and study questions that enable readers to better understand the material.

ISBN: 978-0471192107

The cost of operating a building far exceeds the cost of constructing it, and yet until recently little attention was paid to the impact of solar radiation on the costs of heating, cooling and ventilation. And now that there has been a surge in interest in energy efficiency and solar design, architects and designers need a practical guide to the modelling and application of solar energy data.

There are many different models and techniques available for calculating the distribution of solar radiation on and in buildings, and these algorithms vary considerably in scope, accuracy and complexity. This book demonstrates which of these predictive tools gives the best results in different circumstances, including explaining which models can be best used in different parts of the world.

The author has had over twenty-five years of experience of dealing with solar energy data from four continents and has used that experience in this book to show the development not just of knowledge but also the growing sophistication of the models available to apply it.

ISBN-10: 0750659742 | ISBN-13: 978-0750659741

The human race evolved under the sun, and for thousands of years lived in harmony with its heat and light. Yet over the last fifty years we have lost this close contact with the sun and its healing powers. We have become afraid of it. However the sun is central to our well being and health.

This book explains how and why we should welcome sunlight back into our lives safely! It shows how sunlight was used to prevent and cure diseases in the past, and how it can heal us and help us in the future.

ISBN: 1899171975

Passive solar heating and passive cooling–approaches known as natural conditioning–provide comfort throughout the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet while heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved.

Now Dan Chiras, author of the popular book The Natural House, brings those principles up to date for a new generation of solar enthusiasts.

The techniques required to heat and cool a building passively have been used for thousands of years. Early societies such as the Native American Anasazis and the ancient Greeks perfected designs that effectively exploited these natural processes. The Greeks considered anyone who didn’t use passive solar to heat a home to be a barbarian!

In the United States, passive solar architecture experienced a major resurgence of interest in the 1970s in response to crippling oil embargoes. With grand enthusiasm but with scant knowledge (and sometimes little common sense), architects and builders created a wide variety of solar homes. Some worked pretty well, but looked more like laboratories than houses. Others performed poorly, overheating in the summer because of excessive or misplaced windows and skylights, and growing chilly in the colder months because of insufficient thermal mass and insulation and poor siting.

In The Solar House, Dan Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious–and entirely avoidable–errors. More importantly, Chiras explains in methodical detail how today’s home builders can succeed with solar designs.

Now that energy efficiency measures including higher levels of insulation and multi-layered glazing have become standard, it is easier than ever before to create a comfortable and affordable passive solar house that will provide year-round comfort in any climate.

Moreover, since modern building materials and airtight construction methods sometimes result in air-quality and even toxicity problems, Chiras explains state-of-the-art ventilation and filtering techniques that complement the ancient solar strategies of thermal mass and daylighting. Chiras also explains the new diagnostic aids available in printed worksheet or software formats, allowing readers to generate their own design schemes.

ISBN-10: 1931498121 | ISBN-13: 978-1931498128

‘Windows in Buildings’ presents state-of-the-art information on high efficiency glazing systems and their energetic and environmental impact on modern buildings.

Glass and glazing systems lie at the heart of window design and this book provides an understanding of their interaction and relation to built structures which is crucial to the modern designer.

The information is presented in easy-to-use charts, tables and software for the design and selection of glass, glazing systems and other window materials, to enable their suitable and appropriate incorporation into modern buildings.

The accompanying CD ROM demonstrates the computation examples in the book. It contains over 50 Excel spreadsheets showing window design data and routines for analysing a building’s thermal, visual and aural environments. This information is the result of many years of research undertaken by the authors.

ISBN-10: 0750642092 | ISBN-13: 978 0750642095

With this book, we aim to share our insight and knowledge by giving specific advice and concrete documentation on the effects and benefits of VELUX products in buildings. When creating new buildings – as well as renovating existing ones – the specific solutions need to be considered in a holistic perspective, with usage, personal needs, function, location, orientation, building geometry and window configuration playing very important roles.

Profusely illustrated with fine instances of architectural experimentation through the centuries,Experiencing Architecture manages to convey the intellectual excitement of superb design. From teacups, riding boots, golf balls, and underwater sculpture to the villas of Palladio and the fish-feeding pavilion of the Peking Winter Palace, the author ranges over the less-familiar byways of designing excellence.

At one time, writes Rasmussen, “the entire community tool part in forming the dwellings and implements they used. The individual was in fruitful contact with these things; the anonymous houses were built with a natural feeling for place, materials and use and the result was a remarkably suitable comeliness. Today, in our highly civilized society, the houses which ordinary people are doomed to live in and gaze upon are on the whole without quality. We cannot, however, go back to the old method of personally supervised handicrafts. We must strive to advance by arousing interest in and understanding of the work the architect does. The basis of competent professionalism is a sympathetic and knowledgeable group of amateurs, of non-professional art lovers.”

ISBN: 9780262680028

The book is published by MIT Press. For more information please visit  http://mitpress.mit.edu/node/190670

• Written by a leading authority on sky model formulation and daylight measurement
• Includes information on non-overcast skies and year-round situations important for energy saving calculations, not included in other books
• Includes a historical overview of advancements and developments in human vision and photonic studies
• Analyzes recent research trends in daylight illumination technology in improving health and comfort in human environments, using neuroscience, the work of S.S.Stevens and the invariably missed late work of R.G.Hopkinson towards redeveloping an apt discomfort glare formula and application technology
• Refines daylight theory and introduces new calculation methods and computer tools for programs such as window design MAM and novel hollow light guides HOLIGILM

Daylighting, Architecture and Health examines the relationship between natural light in buildings and human health, considering both psychological and physiological issues and bringing together a range of research in the field. As we are becoming increasingly conscious of global warming and pushing towards energy efficiency in buildings, the book examines the question of daylighting from the perspective of the health of building occupants. It gathers and reviews all the latest and pertinent medical and architectural research related to natural light, or lack thereof, and its effect on people.

• Documents medical research findings which establish a link between light quality and health
• Considers design strategies for increasing daylight in buildings
• Develops understanding and awareness of the importance of natural light in buildings

Daylighting, Architecture and Health: Building Design Strategies is a timely and essential text for professional architects and all others concerned with the effects of daylighting on health, architecture and building design.

ISBN: 978-0-7506-6724-1

Published by Taylor & Francis Group in 2008

For more information go to: www.tandf.co.uk and for eBookstore: www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk – many Taylor & Francis and Routledge books are now available as eBooks