A skylight might seem like a luxury addition to a home or a superfluous choice for a commercial building. The truth is, skylights are more than that. Not only do they add a lot to any building’s design, they also help protect the environment. How can they help protect the environment? It’s simple. Let’s take a look!
Electrical Use
While electricity has the potential to be produced from a clean energy source, current production methods affect the environment. Power plants are often powered by fossil fuels which produce a lot of carbon dioxide. Carbon Dioxide causes things to heat up, affecting the climate in a negative way.
What does all of this have to do with skylights? Well, when a building uses a lot of electricity to light itself up, it can make an impact on the environment. That’s because it’s using power from a power plant that creates carbon dioxide. With houses, one or two doesn’t make a huge difference. But, how about when a whole neighborhood does?
Skylights Are Green
No, not green like the color. Skylights are green as in, they help the environment. When a building installs a skylight above a main room, it can make electric lights unnecessary. For that space. One kitchen’s overhead light might not seem like much. However, the massive amount of houses in Canada mean there are a lot more than one.
Adjusting
What happens fairly often is that people become accustomed to electric light and stop relying on natural light. The thing is, if you open up your curtains or blinds in a room, it’s usually light enough. Unless you have really small windows or a room that doesn’t allow much light flow, natural light can fill a space. This is even more true when using skylights, as the light comes in from above and floods a room.
The tricky thing is adjusting. Some people will turn on electric lights even when the window is open. But does it really make a noticeable difference? The truth is, the light being turned on doesn’t often make the room any brighter, it just changes the color of the light to something warmer. Even if it does make a small difference, it’s actually possible to let your eyes adjust. Try not using so much electric light and getting used to a slightly dimmer room. You may find that after a few days you aren’t having any trouble with it anymore. Your eyes just needed time to get used to their new normal.
Commercial Skylights
Now, getting a huge number of people to suddenly spring for skylights isn’t super likely. It’s hard to get that many individuals on board with a big change. That’s why commercial buildings that opt for skylights are so important. These buildings are run by one person with the power to make a large impact.
Commercial buildings use up a lot of energy lighting up large spaces. Public places like malls save money and help the environment by opting to light large spaces with skylights. So, next time you see a big skylight overhead, remember that it’s more than just a pretty design choice!
If you want to do your part in protecting the environment, contact us with any of your order inquiries!
