Requirements for the daylighting of dwellings and work places - Standardization based on research

Abstract

A German Standard “DIN 5034” on daylighting was first published in 1935 and revised in 1959 and 1969. Changing ideas about the meaning of daylight in interiors and the development of new economical artificial light sources led to the necessity to work out a completely new standard. Before this could be accomplished, questions had to be answered, such as how to describe “sufficient daylight” in technical terms and how minimum window dimensions should measure in order to secure the necessary view out. Scale-model research and field studies in Berlin produced results concerning daylight factor, daylight level, window dimension, and sunshine-hour requirements for dwellings. Based partly on these findings, a new standard on daylighting is divided into the following parts: • General Requirements • Basis • Calculation • Simplified Determination of Minimum Window Sizes for Dwellings • Measurement.