The team at the Daylight, Energy and Indoor Climate Knowledge Centre designs tools that help architects better understand how natural light is distributed in buildings
A team of daylight industry experts at Velux are helping develop innovative products and solutions that bring light to life in buildings.
Working from the Daylight, Energy and Indoor Climate Knowledge Centre in Hørsholm, Denmark, the group includes senior researcher Jens Christoffersen. He has worked for the company for 10 years looking into the fields of daylight, energy and indoor climates and using his findings to inform the development of Velux daylighting solutions.
The research builds the knowledge of the internal teams at Velux who produce information resources on daylighting, ventilation, indoor air quality, energy use and thermal comfort for architects, specifiers and installers.
Daylight and air quality are crucial considerations in commercial building design. Natural light can replace electric lighting during daytime, reducing energy use and influencing heating and cooling loads. It is an important parameter of an energy-efficient design and provides an array of health and comfort benefits that make it essential for building users.
Daylight modelling and the use of simulation tools are key to achieving optimum daylight in commercial buildings, improving the health of occupants and benefiting the holistic design of a building.
'Daylighting simulation tools make it possible to evaluate the quantity and distribution of daylight in a room, while considering key influential parameters, such as window placement, building geometry, external obstruction, interior divisions and material properties,' explains Christoffersen.
'They enable designers and architects to better design their projects and understand how daylight is distributed within a building.'
Velux architect Nicolas Roy works in the field of building performance simulations. He has extensive knowledge of building design, 3D modelling and lighting and helped shape one of Velux Commercial’s most useful daylighting tools for architects: the Velux Daylight Visualizer.
The free-to-use simulation tool aids architects in predicting and documenting daylight levels and the appearance of a space prior to realisation of the building design. Unlike more commonly used 3D visualisation programs, The Daylight Visualizer accurately simulates and quantifies daylight levels in interiors.
The Daylight Visualizer can:
- Calculate daylight factor levels.
- Evaluate requirements for daylight provisions in the new European Standard for Daylight in Buildings - EN 17037.
- Create or import 3D models.
- Perform luminance and illuminance simulations under different CIE sky conditions.
The daylight factor is a commonly used performance indicator for the evaluation of daylight provisions in buildings. It is a measure of the amount of diffuse light available at different points inside a building in relation to the amount of diffuse light available outside a building under unobstructed overcast sky conditions.
Daylight factor simulations can be used to evaluate requirements for daylight provisions in EN 17037, another area in which the Daylight, Energy and Indoor Climate team have extensive knowledge.
Find the Velux Commercial Guide to EN 17037 at: veluxcommercial.co.uk/guide-to-en17037
For more about the Daylight Visualizer tool and how it supports EN 17037, visit: veluxcommercial.co.uk/daylight-visualizer
For more information and technical support, visit veluxcommercial.co.uk
Contact:
01592 778916