Optimize your natural lighting with the GIF Lumière guide

 While RT 2012 is launched for certain types of buildings, it is clear that the benefits of natural light are too often diminished.

The GIF Lumière has therefore undertaken to contribute to this promotion by conducting both practical and theoretical reflection. 

In order to enable professionals to better understand and master the challenges of natural lighting, to design less energy-consuming buildings, and comfortable spaces for occupants, the GIF - Group of Manufacturers and Manufacturer-Installers of Fire-Resistant and Evacuation Equipment - is publishing, in collaboration with ADEME and the Lighting Union, a unique guide on the practices of good installation promoting natural lighting.

A guide for all players in the construction industry

This guide, intended for project owners and project managers, is a tool to assist in the design and choice of installation solutions using natural zenithal lighting.

Before the publication of the GIF LUMIERE guide, no synthesis bringing together studies, regulations, and solutions specific to zenithal lighting existed. Addressing this gap has become all the more urgent, as increasing environmental requirements now position natural light as an essential determining factor in energy performance. Indeed, the 2012 thermal regulations require new buildings to have a minimum surface area of bay windows: 1/6th of the construction, or approximately 17% of the building.

First, the book discusses the benefits of natural light, discussed and illustrated in even more depth, in 6 good reasons to use natural lighting in buildings:

• Light is health!

Lack of light has an impact on the biological cycle of living beings (physiological impact), and lack of exposure to daylight can cause depression, sleep disorders and digestive problems, irritability (psychological impact)… Natural light conditions our well-being. Living in a room with sufficient and natural lighting during the day improves our health.

• Light means safety at work!

Recent research conducted in Germany has shown a 50% reduction in workplace accidents when the level of natural light increases from 500 to 2000 Lux: good lighting allows for complex and detailed tasks to be carried out by improving vision conditions and limiting fatigue, one of the leading causes of workplace accidents. In addition, employees who benefit from good levels of natural light are less subject to seasonal depression, psychological fatigue and stress. 

• Light is a factor in economic performance!

Other studies show that natural light is a factor in economic performance: when the level of illumination increases from 300 to 500 Lux, the level of waste decreases by 3 to 8% and efficiency in carrying out tasks increases by 3 to 6%, depending on the type of tasks carried out. 

• Light means protecting the environment!

It seems essential to design buildings in optimal harmony with their environment. This approach places climate among the fundamental dimensions of architecture, and makes the use of natural light a superior ecological factor to artificial light. 

• Light saves energy!

- Good natural lighting, adequate light control and effective maintenance lead to a considerable reduction in the total energy consumption of a building. Office lighting loads can be reduced by 30 to 50% by using appropriate light control systems.

 Finally light gives relief to buildings and volumes!

The guide then discusses the various sources of natural lighting: whether lateral or zenithal, natural lighting always offers a solution. Bay windows and lightweight facades are the lateral lighting solutions for facades, while zenithal lighting solutions include: roof windows, point skylights for flat roofs or continuous skylights (vaults, glass roofs, sheds, etc.) or skylights.

The guide also presents the keys to a good installation. In accordance with French standards related to RT 2012 as well as European standards (notably EN 17037), the guide reveals each step for a good installation by providing the necessary recommendations based on the latest studies and regulations.

It also provides the essential, concise but precise information on regulatory texts, standards and labels (HQE standards and references). It also presents a precise assessment of the energy impact of natural lighting, which allows you to learn "how to save energy with natural light?", to obtain an energy assessment using Dynamic Thermal Simulation, or to know the eligibility of the zenithal lighting skylight for CEE, and this, through practical illustrations, considering energy gains.

To complement natural lighting, the GIF Lumière Guide presents the control of artificial lighting as essential and complementary. It provides guidance for designing an efficient system that consists, above all, of a coherent assembly of high-performance devices such as LED lamps and modules, metal halide lamps, fluorescent tubes, etc. and a lighting control system that optimizes the usage time and quantity of artificial light in response to the actual needs of users.

-