The use of a skylight for view can be minimal.įRP: Translucent skylights do not offer a view of the sky, but Kalwall’s skylights can be unitized with glass to provide the best of both worlds when a view is desired. Glass, Acrylic, Polycarbonate: Transparent materials do allow for a view, but unlike windows in your façade, a skylight is not at eye level. Like the other skylight options, performance is customizable based on climate requirements, but no other skylight panel can match Kalwall’s thermal performance. They can also achieve solar heat gain coefficients as low as. 05 U or R-20, equal to that of a solid wall. Translucent skylights can achieve U-values of up to. That being said, glass and aluminum systems still suffer from thermal bridging and can struggle with solar heat gain, ultimately creating inefficient pockets in your building envelope.Īcrylic, Polycarbonate: These thermoplastic materials offer the lowest thermal performance and also struggle with solar heat gain.įRP: Kalwall’s translucent FRP sandwich panels offer the best of both worlds when it comes to daylighting and thermal performance. Glass: Glass skylights have historically lacked thermal insulation, but today’s insulated glass units (IGUs) can achieve respectable insulation values. The diffusion of light prevents glare, allowing for comfortable, usable light. Perfect diffusion, also known as Lambertian diffusion, cannot be achieved by these means.įRP: FRP creates a translucent skylight with glass fibers that refract sunlight to diffuse full-spectrum natural light deep into a space. Fritted glass is another attempt to diffuse light but is only partially successful. Even multi-cavity polycarbonate-to which color is often added to give translucency-will redirect some light, but not eliminate glare. Full-spectrum, diffuse light has the most health benefits, so despite often having higher visible light transmission values, transparent skylights do not provide the highest-quality light. When filters are added to these materials, they can lead to color distortion and alter the natural spectrum of light. Unfiltered sunlight entering a space can create problems with glare and become unusable light. ![]() Glass, Acrylic, Polycarbonate (Thermoplastic): These three materials are typically cast or extruded and transparent, meaning they are see-through and do not naturally control or filter light. Here are five qualities to consider when comparing these options. Material options include glass, acrylic, polycarbonate and fiberglass-reinforced polymer (FRP). ![]() Not only are there design options-ranging from a standard flat skylight to an eye-catching pyramid or geometric design-but before you can even choose a design, you must consider what material will best suit your skylights. ![]() This is because natural daylight can boost people’s mood and productivity.īut skylights are not one size fits all. Not only can you save on electric costs by utilizing skylights, but studies have shown that the introduction of natural daylight from skylights can increase retail sales by as much as 40%. Skylights are a great, often economical way to introduce lighting into a space.
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