Velux designs and manufactures fantastic windows. We had them in our German apartment and in few windows of our Swiss one. Folks in North America don't know what they are missing. Makes the highest quality windows available in the U.S. feel like they were bought at Wal-Mart.
Once I worked for roof window re-seller. They claimed that their competitor Fakro (fakro.com) is as good as Velux but has better quality/price balance.
I think a bunch of HN readers are also interested in software product design. To me, this looks like a nice example of that. They appear to be taking a selection of fairly complicated functionality and packaging it so that non-technical people (architects?) can use it when discussing lighting options with people who they are helping design their houses.
Yeah, I don't see what makes this software special.
The main technical selling point seems to be the ability to provide quantitative illuminance values, but that feature has been available in both commercial (e.g. 3DS Max) and open-source (e.g. LuxRender) renderers for years.
I'd like to offer a contrary opinion about the obsession with daylight, floor to ceiling windows in new houses and condos, and glass skyscrapers. I'm fine with good artificial lighting. I don't mind some windows if it's a nice view or for fresh air (assuming the windows even open).
But in my opinion, good man-made lighting is better and preferable to daylight. We don't live according to the sun's schedule anymore, so you do need artificial lightning for most of the time anyway. Optimizing houses and buildings for daylight leads to weird shapes (like those diagonal ceilings in the article), higher cost (of course), zoning wars when one building might cast a shadow on another, weaker structures, and terrible climate control (glass buildings trap more heat in summer and are colder in winter).
In Denmark where Velux was developed sunlight can be pretty hard to come by and you want to absorb as much as possible. The windows work well for climate control, because the main concern is to capture heat, not get rid of it.
About the cost you are right, windows are expensive. Regarding Velux it helps to know that the main shareholder is a non-profit foundation that was created by the founder. It supports a lot of scientific research among other things.
Not to mention that for some of us, daylight is a scourge to be banished to the outdoors for much of the year. When I visit places with 4 AM sunrises and sheer curtains I wonder how anyone ever sleeps at all...
Long ago I worked for a sporting goods retailer and edited photos of sporting equipment all day. The managers thought they were doing us a favour when they put us in a room with a dozen skylights. It was utterly, insanely, bright. After a week of staring at your own shirt's reflection in the monitor while trying to gauge colour (not to mention needing hats with brims or sunglasses indoors) we bought beach umbrellas to block out the skylights. Admittedly, this did make the office feel fun, but it definitely defeated the entire purpose of skylights.
But then, I'm a little odd for preferring to work in my dark cave, I suppose. I just wish there were more openness to the idea that not everyone enjoys trying to look at a computer screen in a room as bright as a summer beach.
Standard lighting is way too dim and does not replace sunlight. It's very good idea to let as much sunlight in as possible. Even though it is only useful part of the day. Where I am from sun does not shine part of the year and living with artificial light only causes health issues to people.
What do you use to combat Vitamin D deficiency? [0]
"Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is produced by the body in response to skin being exposed to sunlight. "
"Vitamin D is essential for strong bones, because it helps the body use calcium from the diet. Traditionally, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue doesn't properly mineralize, leading to soft bones and skeletal deformities. But increasingly, research is revealing the importance of vitamin D in protecting against a host of health problems."
Where do you find good artificial lightning? A good light needs good color accuracy, enough brightness, needs to change the colour temperature and brightness throughout the day.
Then you still need ultraviolet radiation to get vitamin D3.
I sit here under a skylight that is pointed to the south. If that's too hot/cold I lower the roller shutter. I very rarely need artificial light here. When I'm at my girlfriend's place there is barely any natural light, just artificial light and the lack of light leads to a drop in the mood.
> We don't live according to the sun's schedule anymore
I would argue that's a bad thing, even beyond Vitamin D there's the circadian rhythm benefit from being out in the sun during the day, and having darkness at night that I find greatly affects my mood and sleep.
If I stay inside all day, I'm vaguely tired and sleepy during the day, and then I have insomnia at night. I would love to have artificial lighting with the intensity and color temperature to accurately recreate the sun.
