Designing for the balance of natural + artificial light

As technological advances facilitate much finer degrees of control over a building’s internal environment, the expectations of users for levels of comfort, controllability and energy efficiency have moved to take advantage of new possibilities. The result can be an almost symbiotic relationship, in which buildings are able to work with their occupants in a far more dynamic manner than has previously been possible. One aspect attracting great attention is finding the optimum balance between natural and artificial light.

The energy efficiency of a building and the comfort of its occupants can be profoundly affected by the building’s orientation to the sun. Sunlight falling on a building façade usually results in both heat and light transfer to the interior. While these may be welcomed during the winter, they often cause problems through overheating and glare in the summer.

The focus historically, especially in hotter climates, has therefore tended toward mitigation strategies against the effects of solar radiation. Fixed shading can prove effective in this respect, particularly in terms of blocking solar heat, which would otherwise lead to the need for additional cooling with the attendant higher costs.

However, emerging green targets and occupant comfort factors have spawned a new appreciation for the benefits of natural light, leading to the practice known as ‘daylight harvesting’. This has shifted the focus towards flexible building designs to protect against the summer heat, while still able to embrace natural light and heat when desired by occupants.

The key to optimizing the balance of natural and artificial light is the design of the façade and fenestration, or window layout, of a building. The use of motorized shades in a building can assist in regulating the internal environment in a range of different light and heat conditions. In these situations, heat management is more important than light management because heating and cooling typically account for a much higher percentage of energy usage than lighting.

Moreover, the increasing use of efficient LED light sources means the difference in energy use between heating/cooling and lighting systems will become more significant in the future. Shades are best used to manage heat with artificial light adjusted to the required level.

As the sun angle changes and the heat-load diminishes, shades can be raised to take advantage of natural light and minimize the energy used to illuminate an area. It is best to use window treatments to manage heat, while adjusting the artificial light levels to suit the occupants.

There is an obvious synergy between the systems controlling the shade position and lighting levels within buildings, so it is essential to integrate both systems. Such solutions deliver systems that address occupant needs in an energy-efficient and sustainable way. They are flexible and intelligent enough to accommodate multiple indoor environmental scenarios, such as balancing light from natural and artificial sources, while also taking floor-zoning and occupancy into account.

The simplest form of integrated lighting and shade systems might use a timer to change shade settings depending on the time of day and season, with the lighting levels automatically adjusted accordingly. The introduction of sensors and more sophisticated programming, however, make for a system that responds to real environmental factors and delivers enhanced energy and natural light benefits.

For example, shade position may be determined by readings from an external solar sensor, which measures sunlight incident on the building. If the measured solar radiation is above a certain threshold, the sensor communicates with the control system and instructs the shades to close, thereby restricting heat from entering the building. In order to maximize user acceptance, any automatic dimming must be driven by a slow fade. Gradual dimming of lighting levels over 30-second periods is unlikely to be noticed by the occupants of a room. As shades are raised or lowered, the changing incoming daylight levels are measured by light level sensors, leading to corresponding lighting level adjustments to maintain preset lux levels. Similarly, the responsiveness of the shade control system needs to be carefully programmed in order to avoid distraction for the occupants of a building. Transient events, such as a cloud passing in front of the sun, should not cause the shades to go up and down. Systems can be configured with a built-in delay by calculating the average light level reading for a period of time so the shades are adjusted only when there is a sustained change in ambient lux level.

Despite the benefits of an intelligent, automated lighting and shade system, it is still important for users to have a level of local control. Because people have different tolerances to light, a 5 manual override available from the desktop or from a wall panel - is necessary to provide the capability to make adjustments as required.

However, with the capacity for local control, there is also potential for individual users to collectively unbalance the carefully programmed settings for the building. To minimize this potentially disruptive effect, presence detection sensors can be installed to detect when areas are unoccupied. When the area has been vacated for a specified length of time, the control system can simply revert back to its default settings for that zone.

Careful allocation of building and floor zones is essential for achieving optimal outcomes from integrated lighting and shade automation systems. It is important to divide the floor of a building into different zones. Regardless of the fact that different areas experience different shading conditions at different times of the day and throughout the year, each zone can be controlled separately in order to minimize energy wastage and occupant discomfort.

Given the positive impact automated shades can have on heating efficiency, it is perhaps surprising they are not a requirement for the design of a ‘green building’. Rating tools for buildings often give indoor environmental quality and energy savings the same credence, yet do not give any incentive to include integrated shade systems.

In practice, automated shades can deliver a verified improvement to the measured energy performance of a building. Such improvements are dependent on careful zoning, a holistic design approach, and sound integration of communication protocols between the chosen lighting and shade solutions.

Automated shades and lighting control have synergistic roles in building energy management. Architects and developers need to understand the two solutions complement each other and the design and implementation of an integrated system will result in much easier onsite coordination, and a better outcome for the building and its users.

The growing use of open-source communication protocols, such as RS485, LonWorks and KNX, is facilitating more sophisticated shade and lighting integration. However, this is not the only aspect of an ‘integrated approach,’ which has an impact on performance. Other factors can play a significant role if the design of a building is not considered on a holistic basis. For example, if highly polished louvers are used, they may reflect visible light into a room. The position of daylight sensors inside must be chosen carefully to avoid false lux readings causing the lights to be dimmed or switched off, leaving workspaces with insufficient illumination.

With improvements in integration between lighting and shading, buildings will work with their occupants more dynamically in the future to allow hitherto unprecedented levels of controllability and comfort. Where comfort and efficiency have historically been regarded as incompatible goals, the careful inclusion of daylight harvesting technologies will serve to reduce overall energy usage, while increasing indoor environmental quality in a more natural and sustainable manner.