Focus: Energy Efficiency

The value of daylighting, even with LEDs

Even when LEDs mimic sunlight, expert see LEDs as complementary to — but not replacing — daylighting strategies


Daylighting’s positive effects on building performance and human health are well known. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC) studies have reported on how daylit environments synchronizing human circadian rhythms with the solar day, according to an article from Building Operating Management on the FacilitiesNet website. 

In addition, daylighting can reduce electric lighting needs substantially.

On the other hand, the sun can sometimes be too bright and too warm, subjecting building occupants to glare and thermal stress. And sometimes the sun hides behind gray skies for days.

Today’s daylight LED (light-emitting diode) lamp marketers claim to offer the sun's benefits, using very few watts. In fact, visible-spectrum LEDs have come a long way since their invention in 1962. Using advanced controls, white-tunable LEDs can simulate sunrise, sunset, and the sun’s numerous variations throughout the day. Programming LEDs can even tailor applications to recreate artificial daylight that simulates an individual user’s geographic location.

Read the article.



August 6, 2019


Topic Area: Energy Efficiency


Recent Posts

Rethinking How Healthcare Facilities Fund Construction Projects

Rising costs and competing priorities are driving healthcare organizations to explore new financing arrangements and construction strategies.


Winners Named for the 15th Annual Healthcare Design Awards

All winners will be honored and the Best of Competition and Transformation and Innovation Award recipients will be announced during a celebration on November 12.


Intermountain Health Breaks Ground on New Children's Hospital in Nevada

Plans call for a 33-acre campus, an approximately 828,600-square-foot hospital with an initial 180-bed inpatient tower that can expand to 228 beds.


Ambulatory Care Facilities Reshape FM Strategies

Facilities management playbooks were written for acute care facilities, but ambulatory sites require a different approach.


Intermountain Foundation Receives $150M Gift for Children's Hospital in Nevada

Intermountain Health Felicia and Ben Horowitz Children’s Hospital is expected to open in 2030 at the UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.