Save Electricity - Plan for Natural Daylighting
Proper planning for natural daylighting can not only give you a better living experience, it can save a considerable amount of electricity.
One of the biggest factors in designing a home to save electricity is the thoughtful planning of natural lighting:
It doesn't matter if you are in a sun-drenched area or an area that receives a lot of cloud cover, it is extremely important that we get natural lighting to penetrate the perimeter and the core living areas.
Save Electricity - Zero Artificial Lighting?
Usually in the homes that I design, the occupants need not turn on one artificial light source during the daylight hours, which saves a tremendous amount on that old power bill!
I plan natural lighting into all the perimeter rooms and gather light from clerestory, skylight and light shelf sources to flood the interior spaces with lighting as well.
This does take considerable thought with regards to floor planning as it relates to the exterior and roof lines, but a good architect will have no problems with helping with these decisions.
Save Electricity: Share Natural Lighting
Also to save electricity, consider admitting natural light from one space to another by planning an open floor plan, and is not cubical by design, where each space has its own walls.
Open things up where you can to make the spaces feel more spacious, have better distribution of light and ventilation.
Also, by providing an open floor plan, the spaces seem much larger than do cut-up spaces and a very small footprint home can be designed to feel very spacious.
Another idea you can play on is the use of fixed glass panels in a core living space that open to a perimeter room that has lots of natural lighting, or shared lighting.
Save Electricity - Plan for Natural Daylighting
While the light fall-off can be considerable from one space to the next, the ambiance can be incredible.
You can supplement this lighting with skylights and clerestory window lighting.
Not only do you make a normally confining space much more spacious and interesting, you bring the outdoors into the interior spaces and allow views outward.
This is just another little trick to save electricity and lower those energy bills.
Save Electricity - Clerestory Windows for Penetration Into Core Spaces
In the grand scheme of saving electricity, it is difficult to consider natural daylighting without giving due consideration to natural ventilation, as most of the systems compliment each other.
This being the case, careful consideration to site orientation and prevailing breezes are very important to the success of your project.
Utilizing some or all of these ideas during the initial planning process will save you a considerable amount if you quest to save energy
Save Electricity - Clerestory Windows for Penetration Into Core Spaces
Take a look at our section on Passive Home Lighting. We give lots of ideas and methods on how to light your home naturally and minimize artificial lighting.
We will review systems and give you planning ideas, to make your home more ‘daylight friendly’.
