With “buzz” words like “sustainability”, “green”, and “carbon footprint” becoming well known household words, there is a growing fervor by the general public, to “Go Green”. It appears that finally, a movement towards a sustainable built environment has arrived. Or has it? Each day, millions of buildings are being built across the country. While increasing numbers of these buildings have sustainable features, very few have embraced sound daylighting practices and have successfully harnessed the free and universally available resource-light from the sun. Common building and development practices provide the public with buildings with windows. However, quality daylighting techniques (along with their resultant benefits of associated energy savings, and improved indoor environment) are often ignored and, even worse, misunderstood by architects, engineers, clients, and building users alike. Barriers to good daylighting have become resident in almost myth-like beliefs shared by both the industry and the public. These myths all too easily become excuses for not providing properly “daylit” spaces in the buildings in which we shop, dine, work, and live daily. By discussing the most prevalent mistakes architects and engineers are currently making, we can “BUST” the myths which are impeding the creation of effective daylit spaces in every new building.
Myth 1: Daylighting raises test scores for students by 26%.
Myth 2: Daylighting is too complicated.
Myth 3: Daylighting is too expensive.
Myth 4: Daylighting is only effective when the sun is out.
Myth 5: We will have to compromise good aesthetics for good daylighting.
Myth 6: Daylighting can’t be a primary green design strategy –
our Carbon Footprint is much more important!
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