Daylighting

In 1995, James Benya became involved in the Portland AIA Architecture+Energy Program and became inspired by the prospects of daylighting to further reduce building energy use. Since then, Benya Lighting Design has become increasingly involved in the daylighting of its projects, and is now serving as the primary daylighting consultant on several significant projects including the new Sloan School of Business at MIT, the new Main Library at the University of Nevada at Reno, the Aqua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs, the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics at Stanford, and the Washington School for the Deaf. We work closely with the Portland Better Bricks Daylighting Lab, the Seattle Lighting Design Lab, and top daylighting gurus like Lisa Heschong to maximize the performance of the daylighting systems being designed for buildings.

We use the latest tools to augment the architect's skills, including:

Helping develop daylighting and fenestration concepts using SkyCalc and other software to test each concept.

Helping analyze glazing systems for thermal, light transmission and light color qualities using Optic 5.

Helping study interior spaces in detail using Lumen Designer or Lumen Micro, ensuring optimum daylighting under all conditions.

Designing electric lighting and lighting controls that perfectly harvest every daylight lumen.

In November 2003, James was quoted in the Wall Street Journal about the growing interest and need for daylighting. Among his comments, he noted that a building is not daylighted unless the electric lights are off during the day.

Portland International Airport Concourse "C"

ZGF Partnership, Architects

(left) Day mode, all lights except retail and signage off (right) Night Mode

The project uses a programmed cross fade dimming system for seamless transitions.