(in German)

Sufficient daylight and a good visual contact to the outdoors are of fundamental importance for employees' health, as well as their performance and willingness to work, in indoor workplaces. This is scientifically proven and taken into account in national and trade-association rules. Concrete requirements are specified in the non-legislative and normative rules on occupational safety and health. Daylight and heat input are also subject to the legal requirements for buildings' overall energy efficiency. Efficient utilisation of daylight always also needs efficient sun protection (protection from dazzling and heat). At the same time, the requirements for a visual contact to the outdoors must also be taken into account. This is possible due new daylight technologies, including intelligent glazing. When these technologies are used, the spectral changes in the light must be taken into account so the daylight is not unreasonably altered.

Today, visual display units (VDUs) are used in almost all workplaces. Combining daylight and VDU work used to be problematic in former times. Modern VDU technology is relatively robust with regard to incident light and paves the way for significantly better utilisation of daylight. However, requirements remain in place for protection from dazzling.

This report provides condensed knowledge on the sometimes-contradictory requirements of energy efficiency and occupational safety and health, as well as on the diverse range of sun protection measures currently available.

Please download the complete report "Utilisation of daylight and sun protection measures at office workplaces" (in German only).