The benefits of natural light and solar electricity generation for buildings, Doug Milburn, SOLERA

We caught up with Canadian serial entrepreneur Doug Milburn, who has turned his love of physics into creating real world solutions for buildings, and in particular the challenge of creating the perfect daylighting conditions, in order to ensure that buildings are pleasant, healthy and happy places to work.

Natural light and solar electricity generation for buildings, Doug Milburn, SOLERA

Natural light, or daylighting, is the controlled admission of natural light, direct sunlight, and diffused skylight into a building to reduce electric lighting and save energy. American office workers are spending up to 90% of their lives indoors. Therefore the best way to give workers the health benefits they find outdoors, is to bring the outside in.

Daylighting has many benefits for human health and well-being, such as improving mood and reducing stress, while enhancing alertness and productivity. Exposure to natural light can boost serotonin levels, which regulate mood, appetite, sleep, and memory. Natural light can also lower cortisol levels, which are associated with stress and anxiety. A well-aligned circadian rhythm can improve sleep quality, energy levels, concentration, and cognitive performance.

Well-lit offices also support vision and eye health. Natural light can reduce eyestrain and headaches caused by artificial lighting or glare from screens. It also stimulates the production of vitamin D, which is essential for eye health and immunity.

However, many offices are not well designed to maximize natural light. Older office spaces especially can have small windows, deep floor plans, and drop ceilings that limit daylight penetration. While some modern glass “fishbowl” offices have the opposite problem: excessive or uncontrolled sunlight, causing glare, excessive heat, or visual discomfort.

Meeting thermal goals doesn’t have to mean using less glass. Solera is a type of translucent insulated glass that combines high-performance glazing with engineered light diffuser to provide uniform daylight distribution without glare or heat gain. Products like this can be used for windows, skylights, to bring the right levels of natural light into any office space.

To optimize daylighting in office spaces, architects and design teams need to consider several factors, including the direction of sunlight, window-to-wall ratio (the percentage of exterior wall area covered by windows) and glazing performance.

Using a combination of landscaping, window size optimization, high-performance glazing selection, daylight redirection techniques, and solar shading devices can help any office space achieve optimal daylight levels for visual and thermal comfort, regardless of climate.

Everyone responds well to walking into a building bathed in natural light with reduced glare, great air quality, and pleasant views. Finance departments and CEOs will appreciate the energy cost-savings and asset value of building or retrofitting greener offices.

Daylighting is not only a way to save energy and money, but also a way to improve well-being and performance in office spaces. By designing office spaces that allow natural light to enter in a controlled and balanced way, employers and employees can enjoy the mutual benefits of taking this important step towards adopting green building practices.

More About Doug Milburn

As a long-time entrepreneur and innovator, Dr. Doug Milburn thrives on solving problems. For more than 35 years, he has brought his vision and passion to manufacturing, engineering, software development and process engineering.

Throughout his leadership, Dr. Milburn has aimed to create great workplaces by shaping a company’s success through corporate values and ethical guidelines.

Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, Dr. Milburn earned his undergraduate and Master’s degree in physics at Mount Allison University, before finishing his studies with a PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo.

In 1995, Dr. Milburn and his wife Michelle co-founded Advanced Glazings, which developed and manufactures SOLERA light diffusing glass, which enables architects to create beautifully daylighted buildings that are incredibly energy efficient.

In 2001, Dr. Milburn co-founded Protocase with Steve Lilley. Protocase helps engineers, innovators and scientists accelerate their project timelines by manufacturing custom metal enclosures and parts in 2-3 days, with no minimum order requirements. Lilley and Dr. Milburn took the entrepreneurial leap once more in 2014, with the start of 45Drives. As a new enterprise company, 45Drives helps companies manage and scale their data-storage needs with ultra-large storage servers and clusters that are powerful, flexible and affordable.

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