Daylight Provision Requirements According to EN 17037 as a Restriction for Sustainable Urban Planning of Residential Developments

Abstract

The attempt at a more sustainable land use by increasing urban density may have a negative effect on the daylighting of residential buildings. In densely built areas, obstructions generated by the surrounding buildings can substantially reduce the available amount of daylight, causing poorly daylit spaces and a less healthy indoor environment with higher electricity consumption as a consequence of artificial lighting. European standard EN 17037, Daylight in Buildings, was established in 2018 to ensure appropriately daylit spaces. In this paper, a three-step methodology was developed to investigate the relationship between certain urban planning parameters and the daylighting of a typical room defined by specific (Slovenian) legislative restrictions about its geometry and minimum required window to floor area ratio, in order to establish the maximum densities of residential developments still fulfilling the minimum requirements for daylight provision defined by EN 17037. The results show that a relatively low urban density is required to fulfil the stipulations for minimum daylight provision for the deepest permissible room according to the Slovenian legislation. The impact of the development floor area ratio on the daylighting potential of buildings was identified as significant, followed by the site coverage, development layout, and building typology. Furthermore, the developed methodological approach clearly demonstrates a substantial potential for application in urban planning, with indoor daylight environmental conditions being linked to the planning of residential developments in the earliest stages of the project.

Current Insights into Optimal Lighting for Promoting Sleep and Circadian Health: Brighter Days and the Importance of Sunlight in the Built Environment

“…Current daylighting standards are in limited evidence in most local jurisdictions beyond the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, which recently became the first country in the European Union to adopt EN 17037 (a new building standard that specifies design practices for achieving adequate daylight exposure indoors). 163 Even across the metropolises of the United States, municipal legislation can only really be found in lower Manhattan’s 1916 solar zoning legislation, which ensures the availability of sunlight at street-level by prescribing minimum street widths, building setbacks (eg, a wedding-cake-shaped typology), and structural height limitations. 164 The American legal system has yet to recognize the solar rights of property owners or office workers and, like most of the rest of the world, lacks a coherent legal framework by which to do so.…”

Simple correlations between point daylight factor, average daylight factor and vertical daylight factor under all sky conditions and building design implications

“…24 These indicate that DF is substantially dependent on window area. In 2018, European standard 25 EN17037, Daylight in Building, was established and a correlation between DF and average VDF was one of the main themes of the work conducted by Sprah and Kosir. 25 Currently, PDF, 26,27 ADF 28,29 and VDF 30,31 are still adopted in many investigations for evaluating daylighting designs.…”

“…In 2018, European standard 25 EN17037, Daylight in Building, was established and a correlation between DF and average VDF was one of the main themes of the work conducted by Sprah and Kosir. 25 Currently, PDF, 26,27 ADF 28,29 and VDF 30,31 are still adopted in many investigations for evaluating daylighting designs. Studies included DF estimation at an early design stage to reduce building energy use, 32 quantifications of daylight and outdoor comfort.…”

Optimization of Daylighting Outdoor Availability in Urban Kampung

“…The daylight availability of urban areas can be improved by relayouting the building block without reducing the usable floor area [6]. Notably, changes to the floor area ratio, site coverage, development layout, building typology, building height, and building height to street width ratio (H/W) can also improve daylight availability in urban areas [7,8]. With a dense development, kampung Braga is an example of how a heavy slum area has a low quality of livability.…”