Daylighting Lab to Promote Energy-effective Design
Daylighting lab
Daylight can make people happier, healthier and more productive.
The challenge of bringing it into the workplace will be the focus
of a Daylighting Lab and Integrated Design Center being established
at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute of Washington State
University Spokane with a grant from BetterBricks.
BetterBricks is a project of the Northwest Energy Efficiency
Alliance, a broad consortium of utilities that work to improve the
efficiency of electricity use in the region. The BetterBricks
Daylighting Labs' goals are to encourage the use of daylighting in
building design and to optimize the use of daylight in
buildings.
Daylight does not equal sunlight. Daylight is cool in color and
temperature and, by definition, daylighting actually involves
keeping direct sunlight out of buildings and bringing diffuse light
in. Design is integral to ensuring that the incoming daylight works
with, and not against, other building systems such as heating,
ventilation and air conditioning and electric lighting. Good
daylight design will reduce the use of electricity by turning off
electric lights and reducing air conditioning loads.
The ultimate outcome is the creation of a body of knowledge that is
expanding the art and science of daylight design. The WSU
BetterBricks Daylighting Lab and Integrated Design Center will
employ graduate research assistants and be available to all WSU
students in Pullman and Spokane for academic inquiry.
Joins Northwest network
The WSU Spokane lab, to be funded with approximately $135,000 over
the next year, joins six other labs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho
and Montana that make up the BetterBricks Design Lab Network. Each
lab has an association with a university design program in a unique
partnering of utilities and universities.
The lab network serves as a technical resource of credible and
unbiased information and education to facilitate integration of
energy-efficient design to achieve high performance buildings. The
labs help design professionals take advantage of the design and
financial benefits of energy efficiency to create more productive
and comfortable work environments. Each lab can provide a variety
of services, which include information on tools and resources
available, consultations on climate analysis and appropriate
building responses, design consultations for daylighting and
electric lighting, and daylighting modeling. Some labs offer
additional services such as consultations on heating/air
conditioning system integration and energy analysis.