Solar heat gain is one of the tradeoffs associated with using natural light, and should be considered in any complete daylighting analysis. Because the non-spatial aspect of solar heat gain makes it more difficult to analyze along side illuminance or glare, this paper uses time-variant graphics as a basis of comparison. This paper also introduces a new goal-based solar heat gain metric, Solar Heat Scarcity and Surplus, which was inspired by the balance point analysis method. Although dynamic energy analyses should ultimately be used in determining energy loads, balance point can be as useful indicator in the earliest stages of design. The applicability of this metric to inform design through a validation with the recently released 16 DOE Benchmark Commercial Buildings is discussed, and as a proof of concept, the Solar Heat Scarcity and Surplus metric is applied to a simple options analysis. Scarcity and Surplus metric is applied to a simple options analysis.