The Impact of Natural Daylighting in Public Spaces
There is a lot to consider when choosing between lighting options. Not only do you need to think about the design and light output, but how different types of lighting can affect us and influence the desired space. The use of natural daylighting in residential and commercial spaces is increasing due to its benefits to our health and well-being, as well as lighting up any environment.
How Does Lighting Affect Us?
Lighting is an extremely important element in keeping our circadian rhythm to a regular sleep-wake cycle. The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that functions as our bodies’ internal clock. Its most important and well-known function is the sleep-wake cycle. Our sleep-wake cycle is influenced by environmental cues such as the light-dark (day-night) cycle. A proper circadian rhythm has many benefits to our well-being, but when thrown off, it can create significant sleeping problems, including insomnia, as well as have a harmful effect on our physical and mental health.
The two hormones that are affected by lighting is the sleep hormone ‘melatonin’ and the stress hormone ‘cortisol’. In the morning our bodies must produce cortisol to keep us awake, and in the evening, our bodies need to stop producing cortisol and begin producing melatonin to help us relax and have a good night's sleep.
For our bodies to naturally do this, they need access to bright lights with blue tones for the first few hours in the morning, with the brightness intensity adjusting throughout the day. By late afternoon, the blue light must be eliminated and replaced with amber. By the time we head to sleep, the light should be eliminated altogether.
Through evolution, our bodies have been hardwired to require this lighting pattern due to the pattern of natural sunlight. When we are not exposed to this lighting pattern or natural sunlight, not only is our circadian rhythm thrown off, but many people experience SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). SAD is most commonly seen in winter, when mornings are much darker, affecting our cortisone levels.
We can use artificial or natural lighting to replicate our natural lighting system to keep our circadian rhythm regular and avoid SAD and other health adversities.
Artificial and Natural Lighting
Artificial Light
Artificial light is man-made light composed of visible and invisible radiations such as ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) and can come in various colors.
The UV and IR radiations are not harmful in artificial light sources unless set at an extreme intensity and at a close range.
Using artificial light can negatively affect our circadian cycle. It can confuse our internal body clock into producing cortisol at night when we are around blue lighting or stop our cortisol production and start producing melatonin when we are around amber lighting in the early afternoon. This can trick our brains into feeling awake and restless at night and/or feeling tired and needing a nap during the day, completely throwing off a sleep/wake cycle.
Natural Light
Natural light is full-spectrum and dynamic. Full-spectrum means that natural light contains all the colors of the rainbow as well as the colors we cannot see, and dynamic, meaning that the light intensity and temperature change throughout the day.
Natural lighting benefits our circadian rhythm by influencing our hormones and boosting our vitamin D balance, mood and productivity.
Not only is natural lighting a great benefit to our bodies, but it is great for indoor plants, keeping them alive and thriving with little maintenance.
Using Natural Daylight
The benefits of daylighting are not only physical and mental, But it's a great tool for designers to use to impact the way spaces can be used.
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Natural daylighting can have many positive impacts in a public setting, such as a train station. Train stations are being used by thousands daily, making them a hard place to maintain. Train stations can also be very intimidating to go to due to the number of people, cleanliness, and poor lighting.
There's nothing more intimidating than walking through a dark tunnel to get to the train because the LED’s have gone out. Natural daylighting offers a solution to extend the life of conventional lighting. When sufficient daylight is introduced, LEDs can be dimmed or even turned off extending their life - This is a hybrid setup where daylighting and artificial lighting are working together. By keeping areas like this lit up, we also reduce many things such as graffiti and crime, as people are less likely to display this type of behavior when in a well-lit up area.
Natural daylight also affects our hormones making everyone feel happier and more energetic than if they were in the same space with artificial lighting.
Did you know that your eyes can take up to 10 mins to adjust to new lighting?
If you are walking around outside on a sunny day and walk into an artificially dimly lit tunnel, your eyes get quite a shock. Your eyes become overwhelmed and confused about where all the natural light went, and your pupils need to adjust to get a clear vision of what’s in front of you.
Our pupils will continually adjust for about 5-10 mins until they settle on the correct adjustment. During this adjustment period, people feel uneasy in the new environment due to the drastic change, and it can take up to 10 minutes to feel themselves again.
When designing an area like this, natural daylighting systems can be a great help. Natural daylighting systems can be used so that the color temperature outside matches the new environment, or we can use natural daylighting systems in conjunction with artificial lighting. This combo will ease people into the new area so their eyes can slowly adjust to the new lighting temperature without feeling shocked and overwhelmed.
The SunBeamer? is a revolutionary daylighting product that delivers full-spectrum natural sunlight to previously inaccessible areas in buildings. The unit concentrates and provides sunlight in a collimated beam up to 200m. This collimated beam is then redirected into areas where daylight is desired.
The SunBeamer? tracks the sun autonomously, maintaining a stationary, collimated beam of light throughout the day. This revolutionary product is used in skylights, atria, and with tubular devices to deliver glare-free, full-spectrum sunlight. Lenses and reflectors are available to provide architects and lighting designers with unlimited design possibilities. The SunBeamer? supports energy efficiency when coupled with a daylight harvesting system by shutting off electrical lighting when the sun shines.
The Himawari solar daylighting system harnesses natural sunlight through the light-collecting lens unit and travels through optical fiber cables emitting light on the other side into the rooms of homes, offices, factories, warehouses, and other areas where natural light is hard to get through. The system screens out almost all ultraviolet rays allowing a relaxed atmosphere which is gentle on the skin and eyes.
The Himawari system is expected to be used to light spaces deep underground. Even in subterranean spaces at a depth of more than 50 m, solar daylighting provided by the Himawari can liberate people from the stresses of being below ground, making them feel like they are on the surface. The potential provided by using underground spaces should be planned for in a constructive way.??