Breeam Daylighting Factor (HEA 01) - Hospitals & Medical Centres
As part of achieving Breeam Excellent at the design stage for LINAC, the new radiotherapy centre Nottingham, a credit was gained for compliance with the 3% daylighting factor required for a typical 12 - 15sqm Consultant / Exam room. The photograph and sketch above illustrates the actual size of the window in relation to the room.
In this instance, the size and proportion of the window was governed by the fact that the room depth is greater than the room width, meaning that a large surface area of glazing is required in order to achieve 3% daylighting.
An alternative to this type of window which would still achive a 3% daylighting factor, would be to consider rotating the room by 90 degrees (so that the room depth is less than the width). This method would improve the quality of light transfer into the room and provide an opportunity for more interesting elevations in terms of external window fenestration. The down side to this however, would be the possibility of longer corridors.
Has any work been done to see whether the window in the image provides the minimum ventilation requirements of BREEAM? I presume that opening lights are restricted to comply with the HTM and Secured by Design standards.