Natural Light: The Sun and Building Your Custom Home

Fort Lauderdale receives over 3,000 hours of sunshine every year.  There’s no doubt that sunshine is a major factor in populating south Florida.  But the benefits of the sun outside can also be incorporated into the indoor qualities in building your custom home.  Natural light is a key element in your modern home and sunlight contrasts artificial light by enhancing comfort and beauty of the living spaces.

The benefits of natural light

There are many benefits to incorporating natural light into your custom home.  A well-lit space filled with natural light increases productivity and comfort.  Natural light can benefit in substantial energy savings.  A major source of electricity use is lighting, but if your custom home relies on sun rather than artificial lamps you can reduce consumption.

Maximizing natural light in your custom home

Natural light benefits the environment, your well-being and your finances.  How can you put the natural light into action?  Below are some tips for building your custom home with natural light in mind.

Orient your home toward the sun

Design the home so that the most used rooms are oriented in such a way that natural light comes through the exterior windows and doors.  The heat generated from the light that comes in can be curtailed through insulated windows with low emissivity coatings.  The floor plan should work in conjunction with the orientation to the sun.

Consider the seasons

Understand the suns path during seasons to orient your home accordingly.  The time of year will also affect the amount of sunlight that comes into the home.  The angle of the sun during different seasons can help dictate the way you use the sunlight.  Overhangs and shade trees can be used to block direct sunlight.

Light interiors

Maximize natural light by incorporating light-colored furnishings into the home decor.  Reflection of the suns light can make the rooms seem even brighter.

Daylighting techniques

Embracing daylighting with the strategic placement of windows and doors will effectively bring sunlight into your home.  Balancing heat gain and loss, glare, and daylight availability can improve the use of natural light.

Communication

As in any process and decision making the best way to improve the design of your custom home is by communication with the custom home builder.  UBACK strives to make every aspect of your custom home exactly as you envision.  Using natural light in the design of your home is one of the many ways we can accomplish this.