Years of persistent probing by VELUX have yielded a groundbreaking new commercial skylight: The Dynamic Dome, created after long conversations with the architects and designers who spec commercial lighting for warehouses, retailers and distribution centers. “We did two-plus years of research and design work on it,” says Ross Vandermark, national product manager at VELUX. “Commercial skylights aren’t new to VELUX, but we’ve never designed one from scratch on our own.” That kind of dedication led them to a number of product breakthroughs. The result is a tightly engineered skylight that balances strength, architectural elegance and light transmission — with a state-of-the-art system that eliminates interior condensation.
It’s one of the more innovative outcomes from their research. The dome’s structure guides condensation to a corner of the skylight, where a wicking material moves it outside to a flashed roof curb. “We designed a system that manages condensation to the outside without entry points for air and condensation,” he says.
One key element in the construction is an aluminum frame enclosed by Santoprene thermoplastic. Combined, the two materials form a durable, one-piece frame — without a corner weld that might become vulnerable over time. And Santoprene is a tried and tested product with a long and reliable track record at VELUX. “We’ve had it around for many, many years,” he says. “There’s a similar design in another product we offer.”
The skylight comes in a distinctive shape, because its form follows its function. Specific angles are engineered into it so that when the sun rises or sets, its shape allows light to pass through it, rather than bounce off it. “We increased the height of it — that’s important when the sun is low in the sky, so the light can be used on the inside of buildings,” he says. Meanwhile, its ridges and ribs were strategically placed for construction strength. “It’s like metal: When you put bends in it, it gets stronger.” VELUX stands behind the structural integrity of this product, offering a 15-year warranty for impact resistance on LuxGuard and LuxGuard Plus polycarbonate domes.
While the Dynamic Dome boasts a long and useful life, it also addresses the technological aspects that have led architects and designers to spec as many as 100 at a time in commercial buildings. These skylights are designed to work collaboratively with an automatic building control, where lights are turned on and off daily, depending on the sun’s location. “Understanding that, we maximized the design with low light angles,” he says. “We look at it like a race. If you have light sensors turning off lights, it’s a race as to how quickly sunlight can get there.”
To gauge its effectiveness, VELUX recently tested four types of commercial skylights, simulating the sun’s angle as it crossed the sky during all four seasons, and comparing lumen output during different times of the day. The Dynamic Dome consistently delivered 29 percent more sunlight into a building than the other three. In fact, it ranked highest in all the simulations. “We’ve come up with a shape that harvested more light and reflected less light in the morning and afternoon. We’re not talking about 1pm in July, because the lights would already be off and not contributing to energy savings.”
A second simulation compared the same commercial skylight products’ ability to provide enough natural light so that electric lights could be shut off. The Dynamic Dome again outperformed the other skylights by allowing electrical lights to be turned off earlier and stay off later — providing between 47 and 56 additional minutes of natural light per day. That second simulation could mean significant financial rewards for warehouse operators, as much as 286 to 340 hours per year in lighting savings from the Dynamic Dome. “It has an obvious and very real payback when tied in with an automatic building control where the lights can be turned off,” he says.
And, finally, natural lighting also translates into benefits for workers and customers alike. “It affects retail traffic in a positive way,” says Vandermark. “Natural light through a skylight regulates your circadian rhythms —that is, your sleep and wake cycles.”
Walmart’s certainly sold on the concept. The retailer conducted a sales study in 1999 in two of its stores, one equipped with skylights and the other without. The results were tangible, says John Lawton, manager, skylights and global product management for VELUX. “Sales were greater in the store with skylights than without them, enough so that Walmart introduced them to all of its stores,” he says. “It’s probably the largest user of skylights in the U.S., with several hundred per store.”
And in an unheated warehouse where 75 percent of energy use is directed toward lighting, skylights make a huge difference as well both for the employees and annual cost-savings. It’s so important in California that it’s been written into the building code there. “Anything over 5,000 square feet with a 15-foot-tall ceiling has to have 3 percent of its floor area day-lit with skylights,” Lawton says.
So daylighting with skylights has a positive impact on the human experience — but it also has a powerful, recognized impact on the bottom lines of energy- and money-savings.
For more information on the Dynamic Dome, visit veluxusa.com.
