MPs have been urged to get behind calls for better incorporation of daylighting in buildings.
The #DaylightChampion campaign was launched at the House of Commons to highlight the benefits of daylight within construction, including calling for a mandatory requirement for daylighting in buildings.
It also highlighted the benefits of daylight in schools, offices and hospitals in terms or learning, productivity, wellbeing and health outcomes.
The event brought together industry and academics and was hosted by Richard Baker MP, who spoke of the importance of daylight for good health outcomes.
Neil Freshwater, public affairs lead at VELUX GB & Ireland, which is one of the main supporters of the campaign, emphasised the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes in England needs to include a consideration for daylight.
“The policy drivers are about increasing housing supply, cutting energy bills and tackling climate change. These are crucial,” he conceded.
“However, we spend 90% of our time indoors and in recent years, policy has squeezed the really important elements that consider the health and well-being of occupants – or Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ). Daylight is a key part of this along with indoor air quality, thermal comfort and noise prevention.
“Since July we have been contacting parliamentarians to try and get them to think more consciously about daylighting and to consider championing standards in policy debates which address planning, building and design policy,” Freshwater added.
Dr Jens Christoffersen, lead daylight specialist at VELUX and chair of the European Standardization (CEN) Committee on Daylight, added: “There is a wealth of research that shows just how important daylight is for human health and well-being, and its impact on productivity at home, school and the workplace. So the case is well made. The UK has some of the greatest experts of daylighting within industry, design and academia, yet it is surprising that, aside from minimal requirements in Scotland, there is little mandatory guidance on this topic.
“The Daylight Standard [BS EN 17037] however provides a basis for adopting standards in local legislation and we have seen this successfully adopted in a number of other jurisdictions across Europe and elsewhere,” Dr Christoffersen added.
The event was attended by, among others, Professor Florence Lam, fellow of lighting design at ARUP and visiting professor at University College London (UCL), Professor John Mardaljevic, chair of the CIBSE Daylight Group, daylighting consultant, and emeritus professor in daylighting at Loughborough University, Dr Cosmin Ticleanu, principal daylighting Consultant at the BRE and lecturer at UCL, and Dr Ruth Kelly Waskett, project director at Hoare Lea and past-president of the Society of Light and Lighting, and visiting lecturer at UCL.
Parliamentarians who participated included Richard Baker, Graeme Downie, Sadik Al-Hassain, The Lord Best, Alan Gemmell, Katrina Murray, and the office of Julia Buckley.
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