California is known for leading the pack on energy efficiency strategies and policy. A recent publication from the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California Davis provides a detailed overview on strategies managers in institutional and commercial facilities can use to meet and exceed California's Building Energy Efficiency Standards for daylight harvesting.
Daylight Harvesting for Commercial Buildings covers California regulations, daylighting considerations in building design, and commissioning and acceptance testing. It provides extensive explanations on fenestration, daylight interaction with building systems and surfaces, terminology, resources, and myriad other factors related to daylighting.
The free guide is intentionally technical and detailed. Achieving effective daylighting is not a simple matter of throwing open the shades.
"If energy were not an issue and view were the only benefit of daylight with glare from direct sun the only penalty, daylighting design would be very easy and simple, as low transmittance glazing provides view and resolves the glare issue," the authors write in the conclusion.
"Realizing the energy benefits of daylighting, however, requires significant balancing of all performance aspects, which are affected by multiple decisions by different disciplines, from site selection and architectural design to fenestration, interior and lighting design."
Increasing access to daylight provides direct lighting energy savings, and it is a component of occupant wellness and productivity. As such, the guide also would be helpful to efforts in jurisdictions beyond California.
This Quick Read was submitted by Naomi Millán, senior editor, Building Operating Management.
