6th Velux Daylight Symposium London 2015
It?s common sense to architects: better daylighting makes for better buildings. But then it quickly gets more complex. Does more daylight make people healthier" Can those effects be scientifically traced and quantified" Should minimum daylight levels in buildings be legislated" How is daylight best measured"
Those topics swirled throughout the two-day Velux Daylight Symposium held this fall in London, England. Manufacturer Velux sponsored the gathering, although their roof windows were barely mentioned

in the presentations by research scientists, architects and lighting designers. There was too much else to discuss.
?Daylighting spans from neuroscience to social science?it is no longer just about design,? said moderator Florence Lam, director of lighting design with Arup. On the neuroscience end, the visual effects of light are well documented. Healthcare designers, for instance, often cite the idea that views of nature can improve health outcomes. ?Our emotions and instincts are firmly rooted in living outside and observing the natural world,? explained Nick Baker, researcher at Cambridge University. Reviewing dozens of papers about what is seen from windows, he concluded that ?daylight is more highly valued when associated with views of nature,? because these views carry complex information that human brains are eager to observe and process.
Researchers have also been studying the non-visual effects of light?th...