State of the Union in Daylighting at EPFL

The History and Heritage of Daylighting Design in Architecture Daylight contributes to the quality of architectural spaces and provides most of the necessary lighting provision to building occupants together with a premium spectral composition and temporal variability. The heritage of wonderful and exemplary daylit buildings, left by the early designers of the past centuries, is a remaining proof (Baker and Steemers, 2002); it triggered a long history of scientific research and technological developments (International Energy Agency, 2000). The benefits of sunlight and daylight regarding the human health and well-being, including the regulation of circadian rhythms, were recently identified (Stone, 2000). Increasing evidence of links between the presence of daylight in a working environment and workers productivity, as well as better learning in schools, was also outlined (Heschong et al, 1999). Key applications for healthy lighting, including the biological impacts of ocular light, are new concerns for the scientific community and the lighting industry. Neuroscience, which covers a wide range of areas from cellular biology, neuroanatomy, physiology and psychophysics to computational science, offers new perspectives in regard to the determination of underlying vision processes and mechanisms (Sokolov et al., 1999) (Schönfelder et al., 2000). Imaging of neuronal activity underlying the higher brain functions can be achieved today by the way of novel scientific instruments, such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fRMI) and/or portable Electro Encephalography (EEG).