Experiences using EN 17037 in evaluation of daylighting of dwellings in Slovakia

Abstract

The daylighting of indoor spaces depends particularly on the urban and architectural parameters of the building environment. The new standard EN 17037, Daylight in Buildings, has brought several changes and uncertainties in design process of daylighting for buildings. The submitted paper is focused on analysis of the philosophy of the new standard criteria in relation to the daylighting of dwellings along with the criteria that have been used in Central European countries for decades. EN 17037 does not distinguish between differences in the functional use of indoor spaces in terms of daylight provision. The new European standard requires at the half of subjectively determined reference plane to achieve the same value of illumination for half of daylight hours per year for any occupied room. The EN standard does not sufficiently respect the specifics of daylighting of dwellings.