The Value of Daylighting Children's Health and Well-Being in School Buildings

Daylight is one of the most important aspects of sustainable building. Well-integrated devices can improve daylighting in classrooms and minimize energy usage by limiting artificial lights. In western countries, the analysis of daylight settings inside educational institutions been a focus of interest since the 19th century. Even though it’s been argued that to provide a interpretation somewhere else even utilizing daylight rather than more steady and controllable artificial light could decrease students' performance while failing to provide a comfortable and healthy environment, it appears that there is now widespread agreement on the need to design well-daylit space. (Vincenzo, 2017) Studies commissioned in 1999 have shown daylight enhancing elements, such as- shading devices, light shelves, and clerestories made students perform better in daylit classrooms as well as indicate the health benefits of daylighting (Heschong Mahone Group, 1999) Researchers and architects have recently focused on building performance, particularly in educational settings, due to its direct and indirect impact on space consumption and comfort. (Abdulqadir, 2019) This paper will review on daylight's impact on student performance and building performance and achievement by presenting two case studies of schools that have implemented technologies to enhance daylight and reduce artificial lighting cost effectively into the buildings. Those are- Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon. These case studies presented in this paper will be studied and utilized as a guideline for improving daylight educational environment in school buildings in the future. It’s been visible from the comparison of the case studies of Kensington and Clackamas that solar orientation impacts on the direction of buildings on the amount of daylight in classrooms and architectural features such as- Light shelves, solar tubes, skylight can efficiently increase and distribute daylight for both good visual and low energy performance. The research methodology is done by comparing many passive and active daylight control devices. These cases reveal some advantages and disadvantages were found out and could be implemented for further design in school settings. This paper can be used as a resource for daylight design in school settings with cost effective devices in future. It's not a stretch to believe that if daylighting improves children's performance in schools, it might likewise improve adults' performance in other educational buildings.