The intent of this credit is to provide access to views of the outdoors to increase occupant productivity and comfort. Although glazing will increase costs, maintenance, and decrease envelope insulation over standard walls, energy savings in lighting power density has been shown by up to 30% in some office buildings.

Requirements for Certification:

Provide a direct line of sight to the outdoors for building occupants in 90% of all regularly occupied areas.

Successful Strategies:

• Consider vision glazing (glass between 2'6" and 7'6") only when applying lines of sight to interior spaces.
• Consider footprint shape and space layout early in design to maximize views to glazing.
• Open office floor plans with centralized building core designs more readily achieve this point.

Helpful Hints:

1. Design the building floorplate so that as many regularly occupied spaces as possible are located near the perimeter, with access to glazing. Open offices should be located at the perimeter with enclosed spaces and support areas near the building core.
2. Glazing should be shaded appropriately to control solar heat gains.
3. Include interior transom glazing to add views to enclosed spaces away from the perimeter of the building.
4. Perform preliminary space area calculations early in design to determine if design approach will easily achieve the appropriate level of views for the building occupants.

Historical Data (updated June 2006):

• 64% of all California LEED Certified projects achieved this credit for LEED v2.1.

Additional EDR Resources

Software: SkyCalc

Case Studies: An Integrated Campus Benefits From Its Desert Environment

Case Studies: Multi-Agency Library Benefits from Daylighting Strategies

Design Briefs: Daylighting

Design Briefs: Glazing

Design Guidelines: Daylighting Guidelines

Design Guidelines: Skylighting Guidelines