A new whitepaper from Kingspan Insulation has revealed that insulation specification can have a significant impact of daylight levels within a building.
The Daylighting White Paper features research from respected independent consultants, Peutz BV, assessing differences in the average daylighting factor (ADF) of a room when Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board is used within the external façade compared with mineral fibre insulation. Calculations were completed for build–ups achieving three U-values: 0.11 W/m2.K; 0.15 W/m2.K; and 0.21 W/m2.K, and incorporating four different window layouts.
The enhanced thermal performance of Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board allowed each U-value to be achieved with reduced external wall and reveal depths. The research showed this had a significant impact on daylight levels:
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In all four façade layouts, the constructions featuring Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board had a higher ADF than those with mineral fibre.
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The percentage of improvement in the relative ADFs ranged between 10.6 % and 63.2 %.
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All results incorporating Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board exceeded the minimum daylighting criteria from BS 8206-2: 2008 (Lighting for buildings. Code of practice for daylighting) for bedrooms and living rooms.
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The highest ADF was 5.132 % from façade layout 1 with the external wall façade build–up achieving 0.21 W/m².K utilisingKingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board.
Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen Board can therefore provide a thin solution which allows buildings to meet or exceed the minimum daylighting requirements in BS 8206-2: 2008 more efficiently than mineral fibre insulation. This can help to create a light and healthy working environment, and may allow buildings to attain BREEAM visual comfort daylighting credits with relative ease.
The Daylighting Whitepaper can be viewed in full at: https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en-gb/products/insulation/kingspan-insight/daylighting
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