It happened gradually…windows disappeared from schools, malls became completely enclosed, companies bestowed status in office buildings by allotting a room with a view only to the chosen few. Yet our need and desire for sunlight did not disappear.

• Compare how you feel on a gray, rainy day with a bright, sunny day.
• Think of your motivation during those short winter days when you arrive at work in the dark and leave after dark.
• Have you ever made a detour or taken a short break just to get a look outside the building?

Your body uses direct sunlight to absorb required vitamins. The sun can also help you jump-start your morning. If you are struggling to wake up, get some direct sunlight for a few minutes and it will help your body adjust.

Comparisons between daylight-exposed people and those in blocked environments have been studied. Two studies also involved school progress and sales at a retail complex. In the sunlit schools, students scored higher. In the store, sales went up. When your mood is better, you are motivated, and you are healthy, you will be more productive.

Office lighting is also a major user of electrical power and a source of greenhouse emissions. In contrast, natural light is available and cost-effective, leading to “daylighting” which is defined as a building design that makes effective use of outside light in relation to heating, cooling, and lighting, and it also works to improve employee productivity.

This is not to say that you want direct sunlight streaming in on you all day. The light needs to be diffused for personal comfort and to avoid glare on monitors. Physicists from the University of British Columbia Structured Surface Physics Lab designed a Solar Canopy System, which lets sunlight reach deep into interiors through an array of lenses and prism light guides.

I personally look forward to the Daylight Savings Switch. I know that I have more energy, even at the end of the work day. How about you?