Let there be light

Here, Adrian Lukic, Sales Director at Brett Martin, explains the value of well-lit industrial workspaces and the role rooflights can play in employee wellbeing.

Despite their impressive scale and the number of staff they contain, modern warehouses often lack amenities that would be considered fundamental to the health and happiness of employees in other industries. One of these amenities is natural light.

The benefits of daylight

It is widely understood that daylight is crucial for human wellbeing. Access to daylight helps to regulate the body’s circadian rhythms which improves mood and overall health. The European Standard EN 17037: Daylighting in Buildings encourages the use of natural light suggesting that, whilst artificial light can help solve issues of visibility, there is no replacement for the benefits brought about by exposure to natural daylight.

Accessing daylight

Warehouses are often viewed as purely functional spaces, designed to maximise space and minimise cost. When approached in this way, provision for good quality daylighting is often not a consideration.

However, a whitepaper commissioned by Prologis titled ‘Critical Infrastructure: Driving Employment Growth Within the UK’s Logistics Sector’ found that 48% of warehouse and logistics employees desired natural light in their workplaces. The only things considered more important were necessities, such as heating, air conditioning, nearby toilets and a cafeteria.

This figure stands in stark contrast to the findings that only 26% of employees surveyed confirmed that their places of work actually had access to natural light. These are numbers that would be unacceptable in other industries and yet have become the norm in logistics.

Finding a solution

Fortunately, providing access to daylight for employees is straightforward, whether building a new facility or retrofitting an old one.

Given the large footprint of industrial warehouses, rooflights are a logical solution. Due to their angle, a rooflight lets in twice as much light as a vertical window. The diffused overhead light offered by many products also reduces the likelihood of harsh shadows or glare, creating an evenly lit working environment.

‘In plane’ solutions are a more traditional option and have remained popular because they can be installed quickly and easily into standard roofing systems. ‘Out of plane’ or vaulted rooflights also offer an excellent solution for those who wish to maximise natural light penetration. These self-supporting units can be engineered to open, providing ventilation in addition to daylight.

Choosing an established manufacturer like Brett Martin is always recommended when specifying industrial rooflights, as they are still subject to the same environmental and safety regulations as those in commercial and domestic settings. As a result, class B non-fragility to ACM[M]001 is essential to ensure the safety of anyone needing to access the roof for maintenance.

When specifying rooflights, it is also advisable to choose a product with a U value that ensures compliance as part of the building energy assessment. From an environmental perspective, the minimum value for target setting for rooflights is the notional U=2.1W/(m2K), when assessed in a horizontal position.

Maintenance and refurbishment

Finally, it is not enough to simply install warehouse rooflights, they must also be maintained and, in some cases, replaced when they come to the end of their service life.

Renewing rooflights with a modern equivalent will increase the light levels within the building and provide greater levels of insulation, contributing to a reduction in the building’s energy consumption. Plus, a new set of rooflights can significantly increase the resell value of an industrial unit as well as crucially promoting employee health and wellbeing.

With over 3000 historic roofing types, finding a rooflight with a complementary profile can be incredibly difficult. However, Brett Martin has an Online Profile Finder that utilises an extensive database to enable the creation of rooflights to match the profile of most corrugated roof sheeting. This allows customers to achieve a seamless fit and finish on any refurbishment project.

To find out more about the benefits of rooflights and how they could be incorporated into a new or refurbishment project, go to www.brettmartin.com/daylight-systems/our-products/industrial-rooflights.

 The post Let there be light first appeared on Warehouse & Logistics News.