Managing Daylight in Airports

Abstract

An airport is a building type that exemplifies the wide range of interactions that can occur between building occupants and their surrounding luminous environment. Research has found numerous health and productivity benefits associated with daylight for building occupants. However, designing effective and efficient daylighting solutions is a complex task that involves balancing various dynamic factors and personal and task-dependent preferences. This paper explores the ways in which different occupant types have different visual requirements and relationships to the luminous environments as illustrated by airports, a building type that has unique and challenging daylighting conditions because of widely varied occupant types and peak hours of operation aligning with low (early-morning and late-afternoon) sun angles. The contribution of this research is the synthesis of examples from professional analyses of airport daylighting design that serve to highlight potential benefits and challenges associated with the complex interactions of occupants with daylight in airports and other places. Findings suggest that trades-off frequently occur within the luminous environment of airports across the wide assortment of occupant types. Findings also suggest that such challenges can affect the energy efficiency in the large and varied spaces of airports.