Daylighting practices of the architectural industry (baseline results of a national survey)

A national survey of over 300 commercial design architects was conducted to develop baseline information on their knowledge, perceptions, and use of daylighting in commercial building designs. Pacific Northwest Laboratory conducted the survey for the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Building and Community Systems (BCS). In the survey daylighting was defined as the intentional use of natural light as a partial substitute for artificially generated light. The results suggested that architects need to be educated about the true benefits of daylighting and the impacts it can have on a building's energy performance. Educational programs that will increase the architects' understanding and awareness of modern daylighting technologies and practices should be developed by utilities, stage agencies, and the federal government. If more architects can be made aware of the true effectiveness and positive attributes of daylighting systems and technologies, daylighting may be used in more commercial buildings. The results of the survey show that the more familiar architects feel they are with daylighting, the more they use daylighting. 3 refs., 19 tabs.