On 13 and 14 May 2009, delegates from 22 nations (200 architects, daylighting specialists, teachers and others with an interest in the subject) met at the Van Nelle Design Factory in
The theme of the symposium was the benefit of daylight in terms of energy efficiency and health. Worldwide, interest in daylighting has grown considerably as a means to meet future challenges in relation to energy efficiency.
Several international daylight experts presented their latest findings in the field, including: Assistant Professor and Head of the Daylight Lab, Marilyne Andersen, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (US); Assistant Professor Steven Lockley from Harvard Medical School (US); Adjunct Professor Tor Nørretranders from Copenhagen Business School, (Denmark); Associate Professor Mohamed Boubekri from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (US); and architect James Carpenter (US).
During the event, Marilyne Andersen described how, “Recent studies have attempted to link environmental clues, such as lighting, with human performance and health, and initial findings indicate a positive correlation between the two. Light can affect humans on physical, physiological, and psychological levels and lack of light can have consequences for human health”.
Steven Lockley and Mohamed Boubekri continued by saying that lack of exposure to sunlight may have serious health effects. Mohammed Boubekri highlighted that, “Lack of daylight and its impact on the health of building occupants is becoming ever more salient. The challenge to architects and lighting designers is to optimize the effect of light in future sustainable buildings”.
This was followed up by James Carpenter with this statement: “Bring back daylight to buildings and use the elements of light from the outside to the inside”. He works with transparency in windows and how light works through the building. “We have to use light deep inside the buildings to enjoy the daylight, which depends on the materials you use. I work with the outside elements of daylight as inspiration, for example the reflection of light in water - and then turn it into daylight opportunities inside.”
All you need is light
“Build a civilisation 2.0 based on daylight, the whole daylight and nothing but daylight,” was one of the messages from independent author, thinker and commentator Tor Nørretranders, who is a graduate and MSc in environmental planning and the sociology of science.
