To encourage best practice in visual performance and comfort by ensuring daylighting, artificial lighting and occupant controls are considered.

• Support building occupier health, mental wellbeing and productivity.
• Help to provide a connection to nature by maximising natural daylight and encouraging an external view out.
• Help to reduce energy costs and environmental impact by reducing the need for artificial light.

Visual comfort is an important part of ensuring building occupant health, comfort and wellbeing. Reducing glare that can cause discomfort and distraction, and enabling occupant lighting control, the building can increase productivity of its users. By reducing the impacts of glare that can cause discomfort and distraction, and enabling occupants to have a level of control over their visual environment, the building can increase productivity of its users. Maximising exposure to natural daylight and providing an external view out provides users with a connection to nature. This can in turn support mental wellbeing, for example by improving people’s mood and reducing the symptoms of depression. Increasing the level of daylight within the building also reduces the need for artificial lighting, which can reduce operational costs and environmental impacts of the building. Further to this, naturally lit environments increase occupant productivity and support the regulation of circadian rhythms.