Occupant reactions to daylight in offices

Abstract

This paper describes the findings from a major survey of office workers' views on daylight and lighting. Sixteen buildings around Britain have been surveyed and around 270 occupants were questioned. People were generally positive towards daylight. Few felt they had too much daylight; however, responses showed that people were more likely to be dissatisfied with the daylight when the design average daylight factor was over 5%. At these high daylight levels there were increased complaints of sun and sky glare. There was extensive use of venetian blinds in the sample buildings. Control of electric lighting was a key issue. In some buildings the lamps could not be switched off when daylight was sufficient.