True civilization is based on refining one’s manners, thoughts, feelings, and strengthening one’s willpower. Some identify civilization with dazzling advances and innovations in sciences and technology-from trains to spaceships, broad streets and skyscrapers to dams and nuclear power stations, telecommunication systems to electronics. But these are no more than means of an easy, luxurious life. Modern facilities can help “modernize” life’s outward appearance, bul this does not mean that people of that society are civilized.

It also provides an environment that encourages people to develop their potentialities. And truly civilized people are those who serve their community, in particular, and humanity, in general, according to the thoughts, feelings, and abilities developed and refined within that environment. Thus civilization is not to be sought in riches, luxury, and a comfortable life in large, richly furnished houses, or in production techniques and amounts of goods consumed, for such things are no more than elements of material pleasure and physical well-being. Rather, true civilization is to be found in purified thinking, refined manners and feelings, and sound views and judgments.

Civilization lies in people’s spiritual evolution and continuous self-renewal toward true humanity and personal integrity-to realizing their full potential as the “best pattern of creation.” People must realize that civilization is not, as some blind imitators of the West believe, something to be bought from a store and worn. Rather, it is a final destination that can be reached only by following a rational way passing through time and circumstances.

Civilization differs from modernism. Civilization means changing and renewing people’s views, ways of thinking, and personal habits; modernism means changing their lifestyles, pursuing physical pleasure, and developing living facilities. But many people are not aware of this distinction, for their generations have been bewildered with misused concepts and misled in their way of thinking. As a result, their belief, language, national ihonghts, morals, and culture have been corrupted.

Western people who enjoy technical facilities more than others, as well as the so-called Muslim intellectuals who consider themselves civilized and view others as uncivilized, commit an unforgivable sin against civilization and culture. Such people should know that just as civilizalion does not mean modernism, being an intellectual is quite different from being a school graduate. The number of true intellectuals who have not studied at an educational facility is not insignificant when compared to the numbers of high school or university graduates. Misusing such fundamental concepts may cause a long-lasting deception characterized by people confusing white with black, justice with injustice, enlightenment with ignorance, being intellectual with being ignorant, and civilization with savagery.

A community’s enlightenment and freedom from confused thoughts, expressions, and convictions require the existence of a group of true intellectuals-not just school graduates. A community must have specialists in different branches of science, but such people cannot enlighten it. That task can be achieved only by those true intellectuals who, in the awareness of their age, live at the level of the spirit, are awake to existence in soul and intellecl, and use their willpower in accordance with the truth’s dictates. By combining scientific truths with the Unseen’s inspirations in order to form an inextinguishable source of light, their souls and intellects are revived and they are able to open the way to their community’s revival through the messages they disseminate. Only such intellectuals can bring a true civilization into existence.

Every new civilization is born through attempts based on a unique love and belief. Without these two elements, it is impossible to talk about civilization. If despotic pressure or intervention are added to this lack of love, belief and zeal, even conquering space and discovering subatomic worlds will not be enough to found a civilization.

A community whose ordinary people have no belief, love, zeal, or feeling of responsibility, whose ordinary people live aimless lives unconscious of their true identity and unaware of the age and environment in which they live, cannot be considered civilized. Even if they have changed all their institutions, achieved a high standard of life, and adopted a “modern” lifestyle, they are not civilized. Civilizalion is an intellectual and spiritual phenomenon that has nothing to do with technology, dress and finery, furniture and luxuries. The bloodshed, continued but disguised colonialism, unending massacres and conflicts, unchanging human attitudes, unrefined manners, unenlightened intellectual life, as well as materialism’s dominance in science and worldviews and other signs of savagery, prove that neither the “developed” peoples nor their “developing” imitators have founded a true civilization.

It is unfortunate that some members of the intelligentsia in developing countries have mislead their people by letting them believe that modernizing their lifestyles-or “becoming totally dependent on Western countries”-would make them civilized. Such indigenous Westernized modernists do not hesitate to carry out what some Western countries “inspire” in their minds.

We hope that the world will witness true civilization once more. The signs of this civilization, which will be founded on belief, love, knowledge, and universal moral values, are already on the horizon. This sacred cause can be realized if the new generations that have undertaken it continue on their way with a strong belief, willpower, and ever-deepening resolve.

Daylighting is becoming more popular in commercial buildings and manufacturing facilities in the United States. After Thomas Edison invented the electric light, most architects changed their building plans and designed for more and more artificial lighting. As a result, only a very small percentage of the light used in major buildings and facilities came directly from the sun. Recently, the Europeans have realized the importance of daylighting and begun to use a reasonable percentage of sunlight in their buildings. The Rocky Mountain Institute, Snow-mass, Colorado, has investigated the benefits of daylighting and reported that daylighting increased productivity and reduced absenteeism by 15 percent. Also, sunlight reduces the heating and cooling bill.

In 1993, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened a prototype store in Lawrence, Kansas, with nine special skylights designed by Andersen Corp., Bayport, Minnesota. The architectural firm of Leo A. Daly, Omaha, Nebraska, opened an office building in 1983 with l5ft high window walls and a glazed roof. About 50% of its electricity bill for lighting was saved as a result (Reno Gazette-Journal, November 27, 1995). Daylighting is an inexpensive way of lighting interiors since the sun is a ‘free’ light source which can be further exploited by installing skylights on the roof. On an overcast day, the light entering through a 2 sq. ft skylight area is equivalent to three 100-watt light bulbs.

There are two additional reasons for installing skylights. First, the cooling load of a building can be reduced by using daylight. The reason for this is that whereas about 80% of the power of an electric light is converted to heat, sunlight has a far lower heat content and therefore requires far less air-conditioning. Second, just at the time when there is the heaviest demand for electricity (and other utilities) from manufacturing facilities, namely during the summer, sunlight is at its most plentiful and available: in short, skylights can significantly reduce peak load stresses and costs.

An illumination level of 50 footcandles (540 Lux) at the work site is the design standard in industrial facilities. A large portion of this illumination level comes from electric lights of fluorescent and incandescent lamps. Almost 5% of electricity consumption in the US is used up to provide adequate illumination in commercial and industrial buildings.

In production facilities generally, there is a lack of awareness about the energy conservation potential of skylights. Some manufacturers are so unaware about the cost savings that can be achieved by daylighting that they do not have skylights in their production areas, and leave lamps on in work areas throughout daylight hours. In other places which do have them, skylights have been neglected to the extent that they are so dirty they block the incoming sunlight.

Since heating and cooling load are increased with increased skylight surface area, there is a limitation associated with this measure. Some authorities have suggested that the optimum skylight surface area should be reckoned at between 2 and 4% of roof surface area. However, since the measure depends upon local climate conditions, the range should be allowed to vary between 2 and 10%. In many potential sites, heating only (and not cooling) is the principal consideration. Generally, therefore, building designers with heating costs in mind tend to prefer 2% for cold climates and 10% for warm climates.

Heating load and costs will increase when skylights are installed. However, the increase in heating cost is considerably smaller than the saving from reduced lighting cost. The average unit cost of electricity is three times greater than that of natural gas (typically preferred for heating). In any case, heat loss from the skylights can be minimized by double glazing them. In view of the favourable financial balance and the productivity improvements to be expected from daylight working, the benefits from installing skylights generally offset any negative consequences of doing so.

The amount of savings in electric lighting consumption and costs depends on climate and operating periods. The payback period for installing skylights ranges from one to five years. They can be an expensive roof aperture, but it is relevant to note that the lifetime of a skylight is more than twenty years. The skylights need to be cleaned at least once annually, which means that service and maintenance costs are negligible. Skylights are most cost- effective in uninsulated ceilings in climates, like that of southern California, which have no heating season. In such climates, the workplace roof is typically covered with corrugated metal sheets making skylights both easy and cheap to install: corrugated fibreglass sheets can be cut and fitted in place of the metal sheets wherever the skylights are required.

References 

• MURDOCH, B. J. (1985) Illumination Engineering: From Edison’s Lamp to the Laser, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York.
• NUTFER, D. W., BRITTON A. J. and HEFFINGTON W. M. (1993) ‘Conserve Energy to Cut Operating Costs’, Chemical Engineering, September, pp.126-37.
• PIERSON, J. (1995) ‘Natural light gets warm welcome’, Reno Gazette-Journal, November 27, pp.2ff.