Daylight in buildings: the key to health and wellbeing

Exposure to light is as important to people’s wellbeing as a healthy diet or regular exercise, so it’s essential that buildings are designed with this in mind.

In the latest episode of the BREEAM Podcast, daylighting experts Cosmin Ticleanu, Principal Daylight Consultant at BRE and Paul Rogers, Partner at ACC Glass and Façade Consultants in Sweden talk to BREEAM’s Health and Wellbeing lead, Anna Buchanan. They share insights on:

The latest science behind daylight and its impact on human health,
What impacts the quality and quantity of daylight in buildings,
How to design buildings to achieve good daylighting and the guidance available,
Whether there is such a thing as too much daylight, and
How daylight requirements vary depending on the building, from airports to art galleries to churches, schools, homes and more.

From left to right Anna Buchanan: BREEAM’s Health and Wellbeing lead, Cosmin Ticleanu: Principal Daylight Consultant (BRE), Paul Rogers: Partner at ACC Glass and Façade Consultants.

Listen now
Available now on Acast, Amazon, Apple and Spotify.

About this episode

To read more about some of the daylighting topics discussed in the podcast:

Peter Barrett (n/a) Clever Classrooms: Educational Design for Learning School design, impacts on learning, clever classrooms
CIBSE (2014) Lighting Guide 10 (LG10) Daylighting - a guide for designers (2014) Available from the CIBSE bookshop Lighting Guide 10 (LG10): Daylighting - a guide for designers (2014)
Lisa Heschong (1999) Daylighting in Schools: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Daylighting and Human Performance (PDF) Daylighting in Schools An Investigation into the Relationship Between Daylighting and Human Performance Condensed Report
Paul Littlefair (2014) Selecting lighting controls (DG 498 2014) available at the BRE Bookshop Selecting lighting controls (DG 498 2014) Downloadable version
Paul Littlefair, Stephanie King, Gareth Howlett, Cosmin Ticleanu & Adam Longfield (2022) Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice (BR 209 2022 edition) available at the BRE bookshop Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice (BR 209 2022 edition - Download)
Nobel Prize (2017) Press release: 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Press release - NobelPrize.org

To find out more about some of the architects and projects highlighted in the podcast:

Alvar Aalto Alvar Aalto Foundation | Alvar Aalto -säätiö EN - Alvar Aalto today | Alvar Aalto tänään | Jyväskylä | Helsinki
Bjarke Ingels Group King's Cross Google HQ | BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group
Foster + Partners Foster + Partners
Heatherwick Studio Heatherwick Studio | Design & Architecture | Google King's Cross
Henning Larsen Home | Henning Larsen
Louis Kahn Louis I. Kahn Biography | Kimbell Art Museum
Sauerbruch Hutton sauerbruch hutton

Biographies

Cosmin Ticleanu is Principal Lighting Consultant and Head of Lighting at BRE. He also lectures at UCL in the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources. He is a member of the CIBSE Society of Light and Lighting and sits on BSI and CIBSE technical committees. His areas of expertise include: daylight and sunlight analysis; energy efficient lighting; lighting impacts on well-being and performance; light pollution; and lighting surveys and optimisation.

Paul Rogers is an architect and daylight certification specialist at ACC glass and facade consultants in Sweden. He is principal author of three key reports regarding the modernization of Sweden’s daylight regulations and serves as one of Swedish Standard Institute's representatives for development of the European daylight standard EN 17037. He is a frequent author and lecturer on the subject of daylight.

The discussion is chaired by Anna Buchanan, Principal Consultant at BRE and Health and Wellbeing Science Lead for BREEAM. Anna is responsible for maintaining the existing science, and developing new and improved science, for the health and wellbeing category of all the BREEAM schemes. She has a background in civil and architectural engineering and has worked in sustainability consultancy.