These data represent a common gymnasium design with small ribbon clerestory windows wrapping all facades. The GFAR is 5%. The floor area above 300 lux is still 0%, however there is a modest improvement in visual perception of brightness.

These data represent a gymnasium design with large clerestory windows wrapping all facades. The GFAR is 11%. The floor area above 300 lux is still 0%, however there is a slight improvement in visual perception of brightness.

These data represent a common gymnasium design with translucent skylights (50% VLT) distributed across the ceiling. The GFAR is 5%. The floor area above 300 lux is still 0%. These data represent an overcast sky in Seattle on September 21st at noon. The distribution of daylight is improved over the clerestory solutions and the space perceives much brighter as compared to pattern step 9-2 (Clerestory: 5% Glazing to Floor Area Ratio) with the same GFAR located in the walls.

These data represent a gymnasium design with translucent skylights (50% VLT) distributed across the ceiling. The GFAR is 11%. The floor area above 300 lux jumps dramatically to 86%. This dramatic improvement indicates that much of the space approached 300 lux in the previous step but fell just short of the criteria. The distribution of daylight is improved over the clerestory solutions and the space perceives much brighter as compared to pattern step 9-4 (Clerestory: 11% Glazing to Floor Area Ratio) with the same GFAR located in the walls.

These data represent the gymnasium as designed with translucent skylights (50% VLT) alternating with roof monitors with a combination of south-facing (translucent) glass and north-facing (clear) glass. The GFAR remains at 22%, however the floor area above 300 lux falls from 98% to 60%. This decrease is due to the fact that clerestory monitors are not as successful as skylights in their ability to drive daylight to the floor plane. However, this we determined to be the best solution in terms of total energy performance due to the ability to naturally ventilate and cool the space with the clerestory monitors. Finally, the ceiling plane is noticeably darker in this pattern step. Using a darker ceiling for this rendering was a conscious choice and was based upon the actual materials installed, however the rest of the pattern steps use a more reflective ceiling finish.

These data represent an aggressive, although not uncommon, north-facing sawtooth solution. The GFAR is 11%. The floor area above 300 lux is 30%, which is much better than pattern step 9-4 (Clerestory: 11% Glazing to Floor Area Ratio) that has 11% GFAR all located as clerestories in the perimeter walls, however not as effective as pattern step 9-8 (Skylights: 11% Glazing to Floor Area Ratio) which showed 86% of the floor area above the criteria by deploying a skylighting design. However, perhaps the most important lesson to understand is the high contrast and extremely directional pattern of light illustrated by the sawtooth solution. While this solution is useful in very large spaces, in medium sized spaces such as this, the light is distracting, and imbalanced from one side of the room to the other. Notice the different brightness reflecting from the short walls on either side of the false color image and the asymmetrical illumination on the floor plan.

These data represent an aggressive north-facing sawtooth solution using large structural members to support a series of broad sloped clerestory monitors. The GFAR is 11%. The floor area above 300 lux is 58%, which is up from 30% using the same GFAR in the small sawtooth approach of pattern step 9-12 (Sawtooth Small: 11% Glazing to Floor Area Ratio). Some of the problems discussed in pattern step 9-12 are mitigated by the increase in size of the architectural elements washed in daylight. Specifically, the contrast in the space is reduced. Notice, however, that there is still asymmetry in the space due to the directional light emitted by the sawtooth monitors.