Shedding Some Light

Once more the Wall Street Journal uses a vacation home in our favorite City of the Platinum Real Estate Prices (Aspen) to illustrate a new trend."For the homeowner who has everything -- except enough sunshine -- a growing industry of boutique firms and architects is collecting, hoarding and taming the daylight that shines into your home. Called 'daylighting,' the practice involves gizmos from melon-shaped 'skylights' that capture and funnel sun through roofs to software programs that command shades to retract depending on the time of year."

The Aspen house has loads of sun. But the owner's lighting gizmos will point it where it can do good. "A set of automated windows and shades open the moment the outside temperature hits 74 degrees. Once installed, four platter-sized reflectors will funnel sunshine down a stairway and into the basement. "It will look like the sun is directly overhead for eight hours a day," says the owner.