Scholarly record

THE IMPACT OF BUILDING INSULATION ON RESIDENTIAL INTERIOR LIGHTING

M. Bartnicka

Abstract

Background: “The first obligation of urbanism is to come into accord with the fundamental needs of men. (…) The sun must penetrate every dwelling several hours a day even during the season when sunlight is most scarce. (…) Builders must be required to submit a diagram showing that the sun will penetrate each dwelling for a minimum of two hours on the day of the winter solstice, failing which, the building permit will be denied. To introduce the sun is the new and most imperative duty of the architect.” In July 2018, it will be 85 years since the Athens Charter, which is quoted above, was signed. It is in that way, of the sun being the "imperative", that the architects associated in CIAM had seen and predicted the future of cities. Currently, however, the main emphasis seems to be on the principles of sustainability. These new solutions aim at the use of durable and safe materials and energy-saving technologies in order to increase long term cost efficiency of buildings. To do so, commonly, buildings are insulated well and built in a compact and space efficient way, which is supported by existing legal regulations. Methods: The questions arise: how much insolation is lost by insulating residential buildings? Are there any ways in which one could extend the time of sun and daylight in interiors? The article outlines graphical and analytical methods used to calculate the time of insolation of interiors. Results: Having analysed the correlation and range of interior lighting, data concerning light losses due to thermal insulation of buildings with foam polystyrene or mineral wool, depending on the geographical latitude as well as the location of the building in relation to the north, will be presented. Conclusions: Buildings are built on previously underdeveloped or unused land, often in place of old and historic architecture. Undoubtedly, high density of residential buildings is an important element of the so-called compact city concept, which in turn is one of the components of a sustainable city. Nevertheless, such a city should be primarily beneficial for the residents, promoting healthy and sound social relations. In many cases, however, both these recent trends may often have adverse effects, reducing access of natural light and sun to residential interiors. One could say that the measures taken in order to reduce energy loss are implemented at the expense of the beneficial effects of natural light.

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