Sometimes green equals white.
When looking at the significant concerns today for saving energy consumption and reducing the costs of energy used, which is part of the entire issue of efficient use of environmental resources—a Green approach—a technology that has been used for decades is seeing a new level of interest. Daylight is in the spotlight again when lighting requirements are closely viewed for both effective lighting and ways to reduce costs. The white light of daylight is producing benefits that are clearly Green (saving energy and resources). However, it’s not just the use of what we have known as “skylights” that is making the difference. Natural lighting technology has made some notable strides recently; ones that can’t be ignored for quality and cost standards.
The Daylighting Revolution
So significant are the benefits from the new daylighting technology that their application is, in fact, revolutionary. Before looking at some innovative products let’s see where some of the data and applications surrounding the new interest in the use of daylight, and dispel some of the common, dated misconceptions about its use. Thanks to the efforts and contributed resources of the Daylighting Collaborative, initiated by the University of Wisconsin, we have current research and conclusions on ways to apply daylighting to buildings in new ways—ways that reduce costs and improve the quality of the lighting at the same time. Their vision (“Light every building using the sky”) allows building designers and operators access to the techniques necessary to include daylighting strategies into all buildings with significant daytime lighting loads. With a focused source for solutions for reducing the cost of lighting and HVAC requirements contractors, building owners and operators and tenants can apply what the Daylighting Collaborative refers to as simple “repeated models of success.”
Eliminating Some Misconceptions
Paying more for Green technology may be noble or virtuous but it is nothing more than diminishing returns if the investment doesn’t offer productivity improvements or cost savings. That is one misconception that has, in the past, plagued investments in Green technology, including daylighting. If an integrated design approach is used, daylighting soon produces attractive paybacks. Nor is daylighting complicated, as sometimes thought. It doesn’t require sunny days and is not limited to skylights and clear glass windows. Many of these misconceptions disappear when a technical innovation from the industry is revealed.
Technical Breakthrough
The future is here now if you consider new systems that use a state-of-the-art, solar powered GPS rotation control system that tracks the sun. The accompanying single mirror effectively reflects the sunlight into the building. The light passes through a thermal barrier, through a light well and a bottom light diffuser to effectively spread the light throughout the building. Since this type of system produces up to ten times more light than a passive skylight and distributes it more evenly and over a wider area, users can turn the lights off for an average of ten hours a day. That means no electrical draw from line voltage. Dramatic savings have been realized by customers: one clothing manufacturer’s warehouse found their artificial lighting costs dropped by two-thirds along with a one-third drop in HVAC costs. Other customers have reported similar savings.
One example of this new Advanced Active Daylighting Technology
A study for the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program, conducted by TIAX, LLC, concluded that toplighting (skylights with lighting controls) systems produced savings of 35-55% of annual lighting energy,(roughly resulting in $0.11 to $0.32 per square foot savings per year).
There’s More . . .
Cost savings from daylighting are only a part of the benefits the technology offers. Improvements in students’ test scores, increases in retail store sales, and reduced employee absenteeism are related benefits from daylighting. A one percent increase in personnel productivity has been found to match all of a typical company’s lighting costs. A good example is the Wal-Mart store in Lawrence, Kansas, that documented increased sales in sections of the store that were illuminated by daylighting, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.
The productivity gains and payback periods are on top of local, state and federal government incentives for supporting Green energy practices. For some businesses the Green investment in daylighting technology is returned quickly and then continues to save the business on their energy costs every year.
Who Benefits Most
By far, two types of buildings have been shown to benefit most from daylighting: warehouses and “big box” retail facilities. In those types of buildings, the return on investment is so favorable the payback typically only takes three to four years. A slightly longer payback period is usually required for existing office buildings and schools, but it is still very attractive.
The Experts Report
“We are very impressed with the combination of benefits from this type of product; everything from the short payback period to the numerous productivity gains. Installations like the one our company is scheduled to complete at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, in Ohio, show the significant reductions available in energy costs, lamp replacement times, maintenance and cooling loads,” reports Tom Anderson, Founder of The Energy Solution Group (www.theenergysolutiongroup.com), one distributor for this type of technology.
White daylight is now the new Green.
Author notes:
• Brian Gould is a partner and President of the Energy Solution Group, located in Columbus Ohio. 614-610-1398 brian@theenergysolutiongroup.com
• More information can be found at theenergysolutiongroup.com or ciralight.com
