The Pacific Northwest’s Cloudy Climate Inspires Novel Daylighting Solutions

“To live in the Pacific Northwest is to know summer’s long low light and winter’s long dark nights,” writes Joel Loveland, the director of the Integrated Design Lab at the University of Washington in Daylighting Design in the Pacific Northwest. The Northwest’s latitude and climate—caused by waterlogged ocean systems blowing inland, colliding with the Cascade Mountains, rising, condensing, and raining—has meant that architects and lighting designers have had to be creative about bringing light to spaces through building orientation, design, and luminaire selection. But the need for light seemingly runs smack into another Northwest trait: a firm commitment to the environment, generating from a respect for the surrounding mountains and water. Local designers marry these desires in unique ways. In an office by the Miller Hull Partnership, baffles diffuse direct sunlight while allowing light from the overcast sky. In a community center by Mithun, operable clerestory windows allow daylight as well as passive cooling. And in a college building by Mahlum, a light shelf and interior light well are only two of many lighting solutions. “Daylighting Design” focuses on these and 12 other examples, and also features a section on lessons learned to inspire all energy-saving designers—even those that aren’t blessed with 230 overcast days a year. • $45; University of Washington Press, 2012