Glare in buildings
According to BRE’s The essential guide to retail lighting: Glare is; ‘Discomfort experienced when lighting is excessively bright when viewed against the surroundings. Often the result of inadequately shielded lamps.'
The CIBSE SLL Code for Lighting (2012) defines glare as '...the condition of vision in which there is discomfort or a reduction in the ability to see details or objects, caused by an unsuitable distribution or range of luminance, or to extreme contrasts.'
The Illustrated Guide to Electrical Building Services, Third Edition (BG 31/2017), by David Bleicher & Peter Tse, published by BSRIA in 2014, states: ‘Glare is caused by extreme contrasts in luminance – for example extremely bright objects in the same vicinity as extremely dark objects. The problem of glare can take two basic forms: discomfort glare and disability glare.'
'Discomfort glare is likely to occur whenever one area of an internal space is significantly brighter than the surrounding area. Two common causes are excessive daylight entering windows and inappropriate or poorly positioned luminaires.'
'Disability glare can make work tasks difficult, and may occur when a source of bright light exists close to the line of sight. Light sources such as fluorescent lamps have very bright surfaces, however most luminaires are designed so that the lamp is rarely in the field of vision.’
NB PAS 6463:2022, Design for the mind – Neurodiversity and the built environment – Guide, published by BSI Standards Limited 2022, states: ‘Discomfort glare results in an instinctive desire to look away from a bright light source or difficulty in seeing a task. Disability glare impairs the view of objects without necessarily causing discomfort.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Artificial lighting.
- Aspects of daylighting design covered by EN 17037.
- BREEAM Visual comfort Glare control.
- BREEAM Visual comfort View out.
- Colour appearance.
- Daylight factor.
- Daylight lighting systems.
- Designing daylight solutions for commercial buildings.
- EN 17037 Daylight in buildings.
- General lighting v task lighting.
- Illuminance.
- Light pollution.
- Lighting.
- Lighting of construction sites.
- Natural light.
- Retrofitting solar shading.
- Types of building EN 17037 applies to.
Featured articles and news
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.
Reslating an ancient water mill
A rare opportunity to record, study and repair early vernacular roofs.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2025/26
Construction apprentice from Lincoln Mia Owen wins this years title.
Insulation solutions with less waste for a circular economy
Rob Firman, Technical and Specification Manager, Polyfoam XPS explains.
Recycled waste plastic in construction
Hierarchy, prevention to disposal, plastic types and approaches.
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard V1 published
Free-to-access technical standard to enable robust proof of a decarbonising built environment.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Why talking about prostate cancer matters in construction.
The Architectural Technology podcast: Where it's AT
Catch up for free, subscribe and share with your network.
The Association of Consultant Architects recap
A reintroduction and recap of ACA President; Patrick Inglis' Autumn update.
The Home Energy Model and its wrappers
From SAP to HEM, EPC for MEES and FHS assessment wrappers.
Future Homes Standard Essentials launched
Future Homes Hub launches new campaign to help sector prepare for the implementation of new building standards.
Building Safety recap February, 2026
Our regular run-down of key building safety related events of the month.