Daylight Calculations

Daylight calculations

Fully compliant with BREEAM Issue Hea 01

Daylight calculations

Natural light is a vital component of a healthy and sustainable built environment. Daylight calculations can help designers to mitigate against the risk of daylight deprivation as well as potentially providing vital credits for BREEAM assessments.

The benefits of natural light

In buildings of all types access to daylight has been shown to have hugely beneficial consequences for our health, happiness and wellbeing.

In healthcare buildings access to daylight has been found to result in quicker recovery, reduced requirements for pain relief and improved levels of mental health. In educational buildings it can result in higher levels of academic achievement, improved behaviour and concentration. In retail establishments, research shows that day lit shops can achieve higher levels of sales.

Artificial lighting can make up the greatest proportion of a buildings energy demand, especially in non-domestic buildings. Provision of daylight can therefore be a key factor in the design of low-energy and sustainable buildings.

Design considerations

Building designers often need to find innovative solutions to balance the provision of adequate daylight against any potential negative impacts associated with glare and solar over-heating. By creating a Dynamic Simulation Model of the building our energy consultants can provide valuable advice to help achieve the best design solution.

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How Energytest can help

Fast and accurate daylight calculations at a competitive price.

Comprehensive advice and support to ensure you arrive at the most economic and feasible solution to achieve compliance.

Daylight calculation reports can be used to aid building design, gain credits under BREEAM, support Planning applications, and satisfy industry requirements: such as for education or healthcare buildings.

Using the same dynamic simulation model, we can provide natural ventilation calculations, thermal comfort analysis, and an assessment of Part L Building Regulations compliance (SBEM).

Where Planning conditions have been applied, we can provide Energy Statements and BREEAM assessments as required.

BREEAM Health and Wellbeing Credit HEA01

BREEAM issue Hea 01 requires daylighting, artificial lighting and occupant controls to be considered at the design stage to ensure best practice visual performance and comfort for building occupants.

Up to two credits are available for the provision of daylight calculations. To gain these credits a sufficient proportion of the occupied space within the building needs to be shown to achieve an adequate level of daylight, measured in terms of a daylight factor and uniformity ratio. The specific levels required vary depending on the type of building being assessed.

Factors that affect provision of daylight

  • The location and geometry of the building.

  • The fabric of the building.

  • External  shading, such as from overhangs, or from neighbouring buildings or obstructions.

  • The size and position of windows and rooflights.

  • The light transmittance properties of glazing.

What our clients say:

“We have used Energytest to produce all of our SAPs and SBEMs for the last 5 to 6 years. After working with other energy consultants we stuck with Energytest for a number of reasons.  They are very quick to respond with quotes and queries and there is always someone on the other end of the phone. Even if the assessor who produced your calculations isn’t available everyone at Energytest is more than happy to look over the calculations and has the knowledge to answer your query.

They provide more than just a calculation service, they are also problem solvers finding the thermal solutions to make sure our designs pass. I have recently been very impressed with the service we received on a large commercial project. On the calculations for this particular project they produced an additional report alongside the SBEMs detailing how and where we could reduce the specification to significantly save on the build costs whilst meeting the requirements of Part L.”

L Gittens – bi Design Architecture

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