Daylighting Has Its Day(s) at Lightfair

Las Vegas, one of the world’s brightest cities—day or night—played host to Lightfair last month.

It’s no surprise that at this year’s show, in staying true to one of Lightfair’s longstanding themes—efficiency—daylighting was a major buzzword. The practice, which attempts to maxmimize the use of sunlight entering a building, was even granted a seminar track of its own, as Lightfair introduced the Daylighting Institute, a two-day educational forum that preceded the conference.

Pekka Hakkarainen, Ph.D., of Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., Coopersburg, Pa., was one observer who was pleased to see the amount of excitement that daylighting brought to the show. “The industry is getting ready to accept daylighting and actually use it,” he said. “Owners and architects are starting to demand it. It’s not just a lighting thing; it’s a whole-building design.” Factors such as building orientation, window/wall ratios, heating equipment sizing and ceiling height all become considerations when daylighting enters the picture, he explained.

Not only was daylighting discussed, but it was also demonstrated on the floor. Lutron’s booth featured a mock office that used daylighting controls with intelligent retractable shades that raised or lowered and electric lighting that dimmed or brightened, based on readings and instructions from a photosensor.

For an in-depth look at daylighting use in large spaces, see “Quantifying Daylighting for a Big Box” p. 49.

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