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LEED v4 CAN HELP CREATE GREATER AWARENESS OF THE ADVANTAGES OF DAYLIGHT MODELING, INCLUDING ITS EFFECTS ON THE BODY AS WELL AS THE BUILDING.
"Is this building a good candidate for daylighting? Should we move forward with it?"
When architects and designers ask themselves these all-important questions, the answer is invariably "Yes!" The benefits of incorporating a daylight strategy into the design process are undeniably tested and proven, all the way from sustainable energy savings to increased occupant productivity. And emphasis on creating more healthful environments is increasing.
The question then becomes: "How can we do this most effectively?" The answer is daylight modeling. Using sophisticated software, we can create a computer simulation using the real-life conditions surrounding a proposed building to help shape the building itself. We can play "What if..." right at the conceptual design stage when changes are easiest and enable the designer to maximize the possibilities for integrating daylight. By treating the building itself as a light source, we can use daylight as the primary source, not as an afterthought.
HOW LEED v4 CAN HELP
In LEED v4, the intent of the Environmental Quality (EQ) Credit: Daylight is "To connect building occupants with the outdoors, reinforce circadian rhythms and reduce the use of electrical lighting by introducing daylight into the space." It also requires the use of manual or automatic controls to reduce the glare that all-too-often accompanies the use of natural light.
LEED v4 offers three options for achieving EQ credit for daylight. One option is simulation using illuminance calculations; another is measurement. What will probably be the most popular is the option for simulation: Spatial Daylight Autonomy and Annual Sun Exposure. Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) refers to the percentage of the space's work plane above 300 lux (28 footcandles) for at least 50 percent of the regularly occupied time over the course of...