Health & Quality of Indoor Environments • Part 3 of a 6 Part Series
Written by Kimberly A. Phipps-Nichol |
It’s New Year’s resolution time, a perfect time to set a goal of positively impacting your health by getting more access to daylight. Prior to the advent of electricity, mankind generally lived by the seasons. While oil and gas lamps have lit dark places for thousands of years, civilization ran by the sun’s clock. In modern times, electricity has given people the ability to live beyond the light of the Sun, laying the foundation for a 24-hour lifestyle. Recently, academics and scientists speculate this equates to western cultures losing touch with
Mother Nature’s timing, causing the normal circadian rhythm (natural sleep/wake cycle) that exists in all creatures to go out of balance. Daylighting, the practice of designing a space so that the use of natural light is maximized and the augmentation with electrified light is reduced, is one of the fastest growing sectors within the green building industry. Not only is there a reduction of the electrical load, there is an added benefit of greater occupant access to the sun-produced light that feeds the natural circadian rhythm.
While most folks understand the role that an East facing bedroom for early risers or a West facing one for Western coastal regions plays in the occupant comfort of a home, few residents understand the impact that designed access to sunlight has on occupants. Recent reports by Carnegie Mellon University of studies of commercial office spaces incorporating Daylighting strategies netted annual energy savings costs of $112 per employee (approx. $1/SF) and annual productivity gains of $2,475 per employee, for a total savings of $2,587 per employee annually. The same and similar studies also show an increase in employee morale in Daylit designed spaces. With an increase in morale/mood and the more effective/efficient work environment, imagine what this can mean when translated to your home.
A critical component of Daylighting is the appropriate use of window systems. There has been a great deal of research and development invested into creating windows that help clients meet the increasing demand for daylight access without compromising the thermal envelope of a building. Due to the winter wonderland of our bioregion, this is key. Of equal importance is the thermal mass of a solid indoor flooring material located next to windows. In our climate, dark, solid stone-type surfaces along the length of a South facing room will retain the heat from the day’s sun and radiate it’s warmth into the cool evening well after the sun has set. Not only is this pleasing to the occupant experience, it also reduces heating load requirements at night and in winter. A working knowledge of the various transmission and solar heat gain values of window systems is pivotal to designing for high indoor environmental quality. Consider consulting with one of this region’s numerous experienced green building design and construction experts to help you Design for Daylighting.
Even if you are not in a position to design a home or workplace using Daylighting principles, consider the benefits of getting outside more, even in cold weather. As our readership is mostly situated below Latitude 40, the sun generally remains at an effective strength throughout the year to trigger Vitamin D production in humans. The bonus is that we average around 300 days/year of sunlight. Many doctors and nurse practitioners recommend that we make time outdoors daily to keep one’s face exposed for about 15 minutes to best absorb the Vitamin-D producing rays. Exposure times longer than 15 minutes may require some level of SPF application, so always consult your primary care provider about balancing protection and times with the important physical processes that benefit from sun exposure. SPF strengths above 15 block the UVB rays necessary for Vitamin D conversion. Resolve to get out this winter and get a few moments daily of sun to naturally support healthy vitamin production and circadian rhythm balance. Wishing you a bright 2009!
References:
1. Is Vitamin D Deficiency Casting a Cloud Over Your Health? 2005, updated 2008. by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
2. Building Investment Decision Support Tool, 2007, Carnegie Mellon University Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics; by Loftness, Hartkopf and Gurtekin
For more info, contact Kimberly A. Phipps-Nichol, President of Blue Water Studio, at (775) 560-2612.
