Smarter Business: Greening Advisor

Daylighting

Daylighting means using more natural light and less artificial lighting. Daylighting can reduce the amount of energy your company uses for lighting, heating, and cooling, thereby reducing costs and emissions related to energy production. Energy use is one of the largest environmental impacts at any facility, and also one of the greatest costs. Reducing energy use will have a positive environmental impact and also can save your company money. In addition, some studies suggest that natural light improves employee morale and productivity. If designed properly, daylighting can also decrease the need for more costly space cooling. Review the daylighting examples below and consider opportunities to incorporate more daylighting when making renovations.

For more information, visit the Department of Energy’s Daylighting webpage.

Daylighting Examples

• NRDC San Francisco
• NRDC New York
• Appleton School District
• Daylighting.org's Virtual Tours
• Daylighting Best Practices

Additional Resources

• Department of Energy Building Technologies Program, Daylighting webpage
• Daylighting.org
• New York City – Manual for Quality, Energy Efficient Lighting
• Energy Efficiency Resource Database