I concur with only a tepid agreement. Our clientele have been doing what the Code allows, and designing spaces within a dwelling w/o windows - especially hi-rise units, is not new.
End users generally don't see the const docs and how spaces are labeled, and use them according to their needs (guided by what's in the space, of course).
I have seen closets used a bedrooms by the user, kitchens as offices, living rooms as dormitories, food prep, laundry, just about anything - training and culture sets the use.
Egress - most of our buildings now have sealed windows, or with very limited opening/operation. I am an advocate of operable units where possible, and am rarely successful - the tech guys n' gals say they'll use their machines to control the indoor environment. 35 yrs + of practice, and they get it right, mostly - but when it goes bad, it goes very bad. when the energy is cut off from the building, the building is pretty much unusable.
requiring a window in a space labeled as a sleeping room in a single fam house is code - and one must be 'egress'. smoke detectors now in labeled sleeping rooms and at every floor level, egress from basements, and soon fire suppression requirements.
Now I digress. The "Fire Marshal mentality" is out of control now. Simply, "If it can happen, it will, and we must regulate it to keep it from happening". Your speedometer in you car says you can go 120 mph - so we'll arrest you for speeding in your driveway. The over-regulation is killing us and our profession/industry.
Design of our finished product is now being driven by the Codes to the point that once you have a product that passes review, you'd better keep using that one as long as the current Code allows you to. You work for the regulators 1st before you work for your client. We've tossed common sense out the window to attempt to satisfy something/someone with
all the authority and
none of the responsibility.
Back to point: windows for natural light, operability for natural ventilation is a good thing. I don't think that most people would disagree. Some people don't like the light/ventilation for what they're doing. that's their business. Having a non-responsible, all-powerful authority dictate such, one way or the other, is wrong. You as the design professional have almost all the responsibility and almost none of the authority. You can only suggest to your clientele, and your power of persuasion and hopefully reason may prevail. Dollars and density trump this almost every time, so you have spaces with no windows.
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Michael Stevens AIA
SBE
Herndon VA
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