Daylight is a basic human need. Natural light influences how we perceive spaces, how comfortable we feel, and how productive we are in our daily lives. It supports our natural day-night rhythm and contributes to a pleasant, healthy indoor environment.

Since 2019, the European standard EN 17037 has provided a Europe-wide framework for daylighting design in buildings. As a result, the targeted provision of natural light in interior spaces is becoming increasingly important in architecture, design, and building physics.

Since its founding, Heliobus® has focused on high-quality daylighting systems that bring natural light into basements, interior spaces, and challenging building environments. The company’s priorities are optimal lighting, an improved indoor environment, and the architecturally sound use of available space.

The European standard for daylight in buildings

DIN EN 17037 is the first European standard to comprehensively address the topic of daylight in interior spaces. It provides designers and architectural firms with a technical framework for systematically evaluating daylight supply, views, duration of sunlight exposure, and glare in buildings.

The standard underscores the importance of professional daylight planning. Especially in the case of complex floor plans, interior rooms, or basements, relying solely on intuition is often no longer sufficient. What is required are technical calculations, experience in light design, and an understanding of how natural light affects the quality of a space.

To assess daylight levels, the standard describes, among other things, calculation methods based on the daylight factor, as well as dynamic methods that evaluate annual daylight levels while taking local climatic conditions into account. This makes it easier to estimate how much natural light a room actually receives throughout the day and over the course of a year.

DIN EN 17037 defines criteria for different levels of daylight provision. These recommendation levels—such as low, medium, or high—serve as a guide for the desired level of daylight in the design phase and should be selected appropriately based on the room’s intended use.

For Heliobus®, this trend confirms the growing importance of high-quality daylight solutions. With Daylight Engineering, Spiegelschacht®, Glassfloor®, Light Pipe®, and Light Guide®, Heliobus® supports the targeted integration of natural light into challenging building environments—from basements and interior spaces to complex architectural lighting concepts.