Making the most of natural lighting with Somfy solutions for buildings

by | 22 Apr 2022 | Products

Somfy is your best ally in the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings and reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting.

Autonomy of Natural Lighting

The percentages of time that daylight levels must be calculated to be above target-specified lighting within a specific physical space or building, this calculation is based on annual data and default lighting levels; the purpose of the calculation is to determine how long a person can work in a space without the need for electric lighting.

Daylight harvesting

It uses daylight to lower and offset the amount of electric lighting needed to properly illuminate a space, in order to reduce energy consumption and achieve substantial savings.

This is made possible by automated lighting control systems and shading devices, capable of dimming or changing electrical lighting in response to the changing availability of natural light each day, throughout the year.

Dynamic sun protection

It uses technology to control external and internal solar shading devices such as shades and blinds through a smart building system.

It triggers various sensors (sun, wind, temperature, occupancy, etc.) in real time and combines these autonomous actions with pre-set data and thresholds based on the requirements of both facility managers and tenants/users.

See light in a new way through Circadian Lighting Management

Circadian lighting provides users with adequate light exposure to maintain circadian health and align the circadian rhythm with the day-night cycle.

Circadian rhythms are kept in sync by various signals, including light, to which the body responds based on a natural 24-hour internal clock.

We as humans have evolved to base our circadian rhythms around the natural dark light patterns associated with day and night. Taking into account typical levels of electric light indoors, compared to the amount of light the human body expects to receive outdoors, being indoors for long periods of time does not provide us with beneficial opportunities, due to the lack of the amount of exposure to sunlight that we require.

Somfy professionals who are dedicated to the design of dynamic solar protection are inclined towards the development of a lighting design with an operations schedule, making appropriate use of technology, complementing the lighting design in interior spaces and thus increasing the user comfort, respecting the natural circadian rhythm of the human being, obtaining good circadian lighting, contributing to energy savings by properly using natural lighting.

SOMFY is the world leader in the manufacture of robust and silent motors with smart controls for interior and exterior blinds. More than 270 million users around the world enjoy the more than 150 million motors produced by Somfy. For the last 50 years, Somfy engineers have designed products for the commercial and residential markets to motorize sun protection such as interior blinds, wooden shutters, curtains, awnings, roller shutters, exterior sun screens and projection screens. Somfy motorization systems are easily integrated with security, HVAC and lighting systems providing full automation for any project.

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