Daylighting is the art of maximizing the use of natural light within a building. The most obvious benefit to a good daylighting design is the reduction in electrical lighting energy costs (which also lead to cooling energy savings), but the benefits extend far beyond that – studies show that natural light has many health benefits, leading to higher productivity in the workplace.  The major disadvantage of natural lighting is that it can often be difficult to introduce the light without causing glare, especially when bringing light deep into a space. Through simulation, all possible sky conditions can be tested, allowing for a robust and effective daylighting solution.

Useful Daylight Analysis - A screenshot of the BuildingPhysics in-house software, which allows fast and easy comparison between different design options. In this case, the useful daylight index is a measure of what percentage of office hours throughout the year have acceptable (i.e. not too high or too low) natural light levels at desk height.

Glare Analysis - A screenshot of the BuildingPhysics in-house software, which allows fast and easy comparison between different design options. This image highlights glare in several different ways, and includes 5 different glare metrics for quantifying glare in a general direction. While direct sun into an indoor space is an obvious example of unacceptable glare, this type of analysis can help to highlight less obvious glare problems. By assigning numerical values to the glare, any potential problems from any point within a building, for any time of the year, can be identified without having to physically look at every possible glare scenario.