Natural lighting

Introduction

Natural light is mainly known as the light that comes from the sun or from some organism that produces its own light. There is a wide variety of natural light sources such as fire, lightning to the bioluminescence of some animals such as fireflies and jellyfish and living organisms.

Natural lighting changes with respect to the seasons, the Earth's rotation and environmental conditions.

Over the years, natural lighting has been involved in architecture, design and art, as well as in human factors, both psychological and perceptual.[1].

Natural lighting helps synchronize the rhythm of wakefulness and sleep, promoting a better mood and daytime productivity. With its absence, the circadian rhythm is altered, affecting sleep and health, according to the American Heart Association. [2] In intellectual work environments, insufficient levels of natural light induce visual fatigue, impaired concentration and an increased risk of headaches.[3] [4].

Natural lighting from the sun

Sunlight is the main source of light on our planet, without it life would not exist, even our visual system and the psychological response to light and color are extremely related to daylight.

Sunlight also affects the balance of life that we lead every day, increasing satisfaction and performance in work environments. Several studies have even been carried out on satisfaction in work areas with natural lighting as the main factor, with the aim of creating greater use of light and raising awareness about energy consumption.

Currently, it has been possible to calculate the direction of incident light on surfaces, the environmental conditions and the contaminating factors of a specific site in order to generate a study expanding different fields of research such as the balance of life of people, the psychological and physiological performance of living beings, stimulation and productivity in work areas.

The shadow generated on a sunny day has even been studied since it produces up to 12,400 luxes, however this amount is not even a seventh of the luxes that are measured in direct lighting produced by the sun.

The colors of natural lighting from the sun

Natural lighting

Introduction

Natural lighting changes with respect to the seasons, the Earth's rotation and environmental conditions.

Over the years, natural lighting has been involved in architecture, design and art, as well as in human factors, both psychological and perceptual.[1].

Natural lighting from the sun

Sunlight is the main source of light on our planet, without it life would not exist, even our visual system and the psychological response to light and color are extremely related to daylight.

The colors of natural lighting from the sun

The light reflected by the sun in the clouds is dispersed in the stratosphere creating the blue sky. Human beings can see green plants because the light is reflected back to us.

There is a great variety of hues that are dispersed in the atmosphere, the process of change is so slow that we do not realize the great variety of colors that are produced.[5].

Integration of Daylighting in architecture is the practice of positioning windows or other openings and reflective surfaces so that during the day natural light provides effective interior lighting. Special attention is paid to natural lighting in the design of a building, when the objective is to maximize visual comfort and to reduce the use of electrical energy.

Energy savings can be achieved either from reducing the use of artificial lighting, from passive solar energy or from heating or cooling.

Daylighting is a technical term given for centuries, regardless of geography and culture. During the century, architects found that it was being misused and reformulated the concept, generating a line of research that turned into specific bibliography. In this century, with issues such as global warming and the need to drastically reduce energy demand, the issue is very relevant.

There is no direct sunlight on the polar side wall of a building from the autumn equinox to the spring equinox in parts of the world north of the Tropic of Cancer and in parts of the world south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Traditionally, in these places with mostly cloudy skies, houses were designed with minimal windows on the polar side, but larger ones on the equatorial side. The sunny side of the windows, at least, receive direct sunlight on any sunny day of the year. So they are effective in the natural lighting areas of the house next to the windows. Even so, during mid-winter, the incidence of light is very directional and casts shadows. This can be partially improved through light diffusion and through some reflection from the internal surfaces.

Navegación

Natural lighting

Introduction

Natural lighting from the sun

The colors of natural lighting from the sun

Natural lighting

Introduction

Natural lighting from the sun

References

The colors of natural lighting from the sun

References