... let in the light |
People love natural light. Subconsciously, unknowingly, we seek out sunlit places and enjoy spending time in natural light. Beyond this desire, however, are some tangible benefits to adding natural daylighting into buildings.
Studies have proven daylighting makes employees more comfortable and productive. Reduced absenteeism, employee satisfaction and higher productivity are all bottom line benefits from the use of natural daylighting. An increase of just 1% in productivity provides enough financial savings to a company to pay their entire energy bill.
In a jointly published study, Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy-Efficient Design, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Rocky Mountain Institute describes these benefits in greater detail. This study provides numerous case studies of documented proof of the effects of natural light.
- Wal-Mart has discovered great value in natural daylight. Beyond the energy savings, Wal-Mart discovered an additional benefit. In their Lawrence, Kansas store, they found (possibly by accident) sales in the daylit portion were twice that of the artificially lit portion. They also found the cash registers that extended under the daylit portion rang in twice as many sales as the artificially lit ones. More information is available on the Wal-Mart Web site.
Of course, simply adding windows to a building is not enough, light brings with it potential heat and glare.
[source: Eric Corey Freed]
Smart Films can block the heat and glare to make your office feel more comfortable, reduce your air-conditioner energy costs, protect your furniture against sun damage and fading and let in the daylight.
Smart Films Ambiance 25 was installed by Tintplus in the
new Schneider Electric building at Eagle Farm, Brisbane
Smart Films was installed at the Schneider Electric building to solve a heat and glare problem for staff located adjacent to the windows. The Smart Films Ambiance 25 film was selected because they did not want to significantly reduce the level of natural light received by staff working further away from the windows
Daylighting Window Film Selection
Clear (untinted) films that block the heat and let in the daylight |
Films that reduce heat and glare, protect against fading and provide privacy, and won’t make your room “feel” dark |
