3 Ways How Daylight Inclusion At Workplace Can Improve Productivity Snushine in your office.

Do a simple experiment. Day 1: Try and work in a constant artificial light at your office. Day 2: Sit in a naturally lit room while you are in front of the computer.

Chances are your productivity rises on Day 2. Amazed? "Study shows that the more variety is there in the lighting, the healthier is our productivity. In an office, people act more creatively with changing daylight, artificial lights, shadows and temperature.

In stable lighting, we can't relate to the surroundings as it slows down the brain. Proper daylight heightens our brain activity," says James Edward, Partner, Foster + Partners, a leading architect firm in the world.

1 Increase in productivity of employees:

"Eyestrain is related to the spectrum of light present at a workspace and the ability of the eye to refocus. The proper integration and management of daylight in an office building provides the best spectrum of light for the eye," according to Franta G and Anstead K's journal, Daylighting Offers Great Opportunities.

DuPont knowledge center, Hyderabad, made sure that it included daylight from the design stage of the facility. They did an in-house research and found minimal complaints like eye strains from employees who work under daylight.

Employees prefer workstations having better natural light. Natural light energizes the thinking and minimize fatigue. They keep the window curtains open in offices and labs to work under natural light as much possible. The office has also modified few workstations and rooms to improve daylight based one employees' feedback.

Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd in Mumbai has daylit office spaces that have resulted in increase occupant productivity and comfort. The office has been designed as a green building that has ensured optimum daylight in the interior spaces along with views of the exteriors.Apart from the occupants performing better, the building too performs better in terms of energy saving by utilizing natural light. Its daylight sensors optimize the use of artificial lighting.

2. Going green, saving costs:

Including daylight friendly designs is a win-win situation for people at office and environment at large. Some of our country's biggest names have realized the importance of natural daylight and its optimum utilization.

Indian Green Building Council LEED rating scheme (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design made by US Green Building Council), the country's highest standard for building environmental performance, has been instrumental in making maximum daylight usage a reality.

India's top tech company, Infosys, has gone a step further with their team Green Initiatives, which, with 11 campuses across different cities in India, is leading the way to a sustainable growth.

Infosys instituted the team in 2008 with a sole aim that all new buildings should aim for Platinum standard under the Indian Green Building Council LEED rating scheme, the country's highest standard for building environmental performance.

Infosys has taken up goals of becoming carbon neutral, reducing per capita energy consumption by 50 percent against the baseline year 2008, and meeting 100 percent of their electricity needs from renewable sources in the coming years.

The tech giant is questioning every assumption and implementing innovative technologies to significantly improve their performance for the betterment of the society as a whole.

The tech giant is questioning every assumption and implementing innovative technologies to significantly improve their performance for the betterment of the society as a whole.

They have been focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, waste management and bio diversity. With the use of daylight and occupancy sensors, Group 10 Technologies, a global consulting company, has reduced the lighting power consumption by more than 30 percent at their Gurgaon office there by reducing cost of artificial lighting.

Over 45 percent of the lighting controls have daylight sensors and over 60 percent of the lighting controls have occupancy sensors installed.

Eight-six percent of the regularly occupied areas have access to daylight and views. Low-emitting construction materials including paints, carpets and adhesives were used to minimize harmful chemicals introduced into the workplace, giving a conducive and productivity enhancing environment.

3. Better designs, better innovations:

Foster + Partners have been fascinated with daylight designs since the inception of their company in 1960. "Inclusion of daylight has always been our prime agendas as it gives an opportunity to play with designs and bring better solutions.

A lot of innovations go behind creating a better and sustainable architecture design, and our office is a prime example.

It is fully glazed, and being in London, it was a task as we hardly get any sun. It is amazing how our brain works. When you can see how the light and weather are changing, you automatically prepare yourself to adjust and work," says Edward.

Evolve, the GnNxt IT Park Mahindra World City, Jaipur, Rajasthan, is an example of excellent innovation to get sunshine 320 days in a year. The building has glazing provided on the all four sides, and the basement has several cut-out spaces through that natural light seeps in.

A daylight simulation model was carried out, which revealed that 100 percent of the interior areas of the building are lit by natural light.

There are blinds provided across the perimeter glazing that restrict the amount of daylight required by the building occupants, seated in the perimeter areas based on their needs. This has reduced the electricity consumption and cost, and promoted occupant productivity.

3C Company, a Delhi NCR-based architect and design Company, came up an interesting innovation in Wipro Campus, in Gurgaon.

highlight of the building is a controlled, open to sky landscape courtyard that contributes towards keeping the building cool during summers, reducing air conditioning costs. All open office spaces overlook the courtyard, thus allowing good access to daylight.

(This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (January, 2016 Issue).