Have you ever heard of “daylighting”? How about a “tubular daylighting device”? Most people haven’t, but to hear Gary Dvorak from Colorado-based Solargreen talk about it, sliced bread could only dream of being so cool.

“Daylighting, basically, is about fi nding ways to use sunlight to light buildings,” Dvorak says. “Technically windows qualify, but their reach—their ability to offer useful light in a room—varies widely throughout the day and is typically limited to about 15 feet. And skylights, which are essentially windows on the ceiling, have nearly all the same limitations, but with more glare. There are new technologies that can do better than that. Way better.”

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Totally Tubular Light

Light from windows can only penetrate 15 feet into a room

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ILLUMINATING BENEFITSLet’s pause for just a moment to talk about why natural light is important—a subject Dvorak, as his degree in Architectural Engineering attests, knows more than a little about.

“The bottom line is that [people] respond really well to natural light, and studies have shown that there are a whole bunch of benefi ts, including improvements in mental acuity, work performance, and even mood.1”

1Heschong Mahone Group: “Daylighting and productivity - CEC Pier.”

Skylights offer “shafts of light,” but little else

The solution, says Dvorak, is the tubular daylighting device. “We sell and install a brand called Solatube International, and they solve nearly all of the problems you get with windows and skylights.”

While skylights are, essentially, just windows on the ceiling, tubular daylighting devices are designed to capture light from

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the sun at all points in the sky—using a dome, not a fl at pane of glass—and then regulate the amount of light they deliver inside the building through the day. They do this with something called a Fresnel lens.

“These lenses automatically adjust the amount of light you get,” says Dvorak. “In the morning and evening, they maximize the available light. At midday, when the sun is overhead and the light is at its brightest, the lens attenuates it. The effect is a far more uniform amount of light at all times of the day, and exceptional thermal performance.”

But maybe the best feature of all, says Dvorak, is the fact that the tubes through which the sunlight is routed can be up to 60 feet long. “The tubes themselves are practically mirrors at 97.7 percent ‘specular refl ectivity.’ That means they can deliver light with very little loss over long distances. So yes, by running the tubes in walls, like ventilation ducts, even with 90-degree bends, you can have natural light on the second and even fi rst fl oors of a three-story building.”

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Although daylighting certainly isn’t the only thing Solargreen does, it is a specialty. And Dvorak’s Architectural Engineering degree has allowed him to work with architects to incorporate tubes into buildings at the design stage, often with interesting and innovative results.

“Rather than minimizing the visual impact, as you might do with a fl uorescent light, the architects I’ve been working with have been featuring them by incorporating them in architectural features and even creating ‘daylight sculptures.’ They’re really embracing this, and Solargreen is perfectly positioned to help create bright, beautiful spaces that are healthy and conducive to productivity.”

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Tubular daylighting devices can provide natural light on more than just one fl oor of a building

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This installation in a Colorado school features exposed tubes with slits that use light as a decorative design element. Design by RB+B Architects, Inc.

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WHAT’S iSqFt GOT TO DO WITH IT?You can have the best product and service in the world, but it won’t matter a bit if you’ve got no one to sell it to. That’s where iSqFt comes in. “iSqFt lets Solargreen be proactive. It’s nice that we receive bid invites from general contractors, but we’re not reliant on having them reach out to us. That means we can use the information iSqFt gives us to stay in the loop and bid on the projects we want. And fi nding out about projects in the proposal stage means we can work with the architect to create something special, and meet the customer’s exact needs. Using iSqFt, we’ve helped countless buildings brighten up.”

Solargreen is using iSqFt to fi nd new jobs, and push the boundaries of light function and design. How are you using iSqFt? Tell us about it here.