Benefits of Daylighting
Scientific studies show what many people have known intuitively for decades: people are healthier and function better in natural, light filled environments.
Natural light—or “daylighting”—in homes makes home and building interiors appear more spacious and helps the people who inhabit them feel more connected to nature. Natural light has been proven to boost people’s energy, combat depression, improve sleep and increase mental productivity. In fact, children who attend schools with abundant natural light increase their test scores, are less likely to be absent and are generally calmer than those who attend schools with less natural light. And in the workplace, companies have found that daylighting improves employee morale, increases worker productivity and decreases absenteeism.
In short, people are happier when they are bathed in natural light. As an added bonus, homes and buildings that are designed to maximize daylighting enjoy smaller heating and electricity bills. With all these positives it is no wonder why daylighting has become a staple in sustainable building, and is one of the key components of all Blu homes.
Blu homes allow approximately 400% more natural light into its homes and buildings than is required by the latest, strictest building code requirements.
We achieve this in the following ways:
1. Building Orientation We recognize that all building sites are unique. Daylighting begins with orienting a design according to the uniqueness of your site so that your home or building can maximize the available natural light. Our homes are designed with two “light walls” and two “dark walls,” enabling flexibility in orienting your home to fit your site and climate.
2. Building Design We incorporate thoughtful passive solar techniques into our designs which provide a natural temperature regulating system and ensure that your home or building will not be too hot or too cold by the abundance of windows. We also offer a series of optional exterior shading elements, such as over-window trellises, for example, that allow the low winter sun to heat the house in the winter, but prevent over-heating in the summer.
3. Zoned Lighting We recognize that sometimes natural light is not enough – especially when it’s night time :-) – and utilize an innovative zone lighting strategy that lets you to use only the electrical lighting that you need, when you need it. Each individual space within a Blu home is equipped with its own switch, allowing you to illuminate only the areas that need it without wasting electricity or money lighting entire rooms that may not.
4. Clerestory Windows Our high ceilings and folding technology allow our homes and buildings to utilize clerestory windows. Clerestory windows are a band of narrow windows at the top of a high wall that usually rises above adjoining roofs, bringing light to the upper space of a building while simultaneously providing a natural ventilation system.
Sources: “Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy Efficient Design,” by Joseph J. Romm, U.S. Department of Energy and William D. Browning, Rocky Mountain Institute; “Daylighting in Schools: Improving Student Performance and Health at a Price Schools Can Afford,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory Report, June 2000.
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