An Evaluation Method for Daylighting Quality in Buildings Under Clear Sunny Skies. (original) (raw)

The Quality of Daylight in Various Types of Residential Buildings

Proceedings of the enviBUILD 2019, 2020

The residential building design must place an emphasis on daylight in interiors, in terms of quality as well as quantity. The legislative requirements are more or less unified across the spectrum of residential building types. The article compares the daylighting conditions in three different types of residential development in Prague: a tenement house from the 19th century, a neighbourhood of precast panel buildings from the second half of the 20th century and a contemporary housing complex. The urban situation, such as distances between the buildings and street profiles, majorly influences the daylight and insolation in the apartments. The apartment layout, the proportions of the room and the size and proportion of the windows are also important factors affecting the distribution of daylight in the rooms. The case study is a part of a larger research project, which aims to create a supplementary teaching material for architecture students, who are learning to design the suitable interiors.

The relationships between users and daylighting design in the 20th century architectural practice

2020

Architecture bridges between art and science, calling for a harmonious balance of multiple needs and complex issues. Considering that architecture is a man’s creation for men, this research explores it from the relationship of human factors in architecture. It specifically focuses on the relationships between users and natural light (both sunlight and daylight) in the architectural production of the 20th century. A critical review is undertaken for the case of the 20th century most famous modern architects in terms of architectural daylighting and its relationships to the users' perception and behaviour. The investigative approach relies on a literature review, in situ observations and some interviews with the current buildings’ managers. Six contemporary architects’ work composed the study corpus. The results highlight first that i) users did not perceive natural light as architects did, ii) users’ feelings could not replace the other factors contributing to the generation of t...

Daylight and window view quality for visual comfort: the case of an office building in Jaffna

Built-Environment Sri Lanka, 2023

Architectural lighting is now simple and emotionless due to modern technological innovations, which makes it difficult to recognise the distinct character of a place. With the development of air conditioning and artificial lighting systems, architects are more inclined to adopt them than to design equivalent spaces in natural light, thus, taking advantage of ideal lighting conditions to raise the quality of space. The major difference between artificial light and daylight is the “view”, daylight integration systems offer. This is a research initiative to ascertain the perceptual influence of daylight and ‘window view quality’ in achieving visual comfort. With this in mind, a single case study is investigated, thereby involving like-minded respondents that engage in a similar work programme. As a limitation of scope, an environmentally rated building in a specific locality – Jaffna – is selected. Post Occupancy Evaluation forms the primary method adopted. Mapping of the space is undertaken, together with Perceptual Spatial Analysis (PERCIFAL) surveys, and correlate responses to the physically observed spaces. Results show the occupants agree that natural light is the preferred mode of lighting for the workspace. Although the window views are deemed to enrich the working environment, the emphasis on its preference does not strongly correlate among all respondents. Conclusions are drawn on the parameters surveyed - that drive window view quality and daylight perception - to form implications for design both as individual elements and as a whole, to achieve overall visual comfort within a specific office environment.

The effect of architectural details on daylight distribution inside a room

2015

In Iranian historical architecture one of the most important design criteria is daylight accessibility and quality. To evaluate daylighting conditions in a historical house in Kashan city in Iran, one of its main rooms was examined according to field and simulation studies in the year 2012 and 2014. To evaluate the effects of architectural design details on daylighting conditions of the room, some elements such as balcony, ceiling shape and height, window size and frame, glass size and colour, where changed or eliminated by simulation. The amount and distribution of daylight inside the room was simulated in the morning, noon and afternoon of two sunny days in summer and winter on a horizontal mesh at 80 cm height. The important UDI (useful daylight illumination) levels on different parts of the room were calculated on this height in all months of the year. On a column diagram, the results of this calculation show the percentage of daylight accessibility in a year. The illumination a...

Volumetric - Spatial Design and Daylight in Apartment Buildings. Study Case: Havana City

Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Congress – Sweden, 8–13 May, 2011, Linköping, Sweden, 2011

The relationship between architectural shape and daylight is very well known. The geometry of the building and its context influence quantitatively and qualitatively indoor natural illumination. But this architectural feature highly determines also the thermal environment and sometimes these two requirements are contradictory. The results presented in the paper are part of a wider research that intends to evaluate the influence of the transitional spaces (indoors-outdoors) on the interior spaces environment. In order to do that, measurements of temperature and humidity have been carried out in housing buildings in some urban areas in Habana City, and at the same time, daylight conditions in those buildings and spaces have been simulated. The results of this computer simulation and its discussion are presented in the paper, focused on the performance of the geometry of these transitional spaces. A representative sample of apartment buildings typologies that are being studying in different urban areas was selected in order to simulate daylight performance indoors, using the professional software "DIALux". The better daylight conditions are got in spaces related to wide streets. On the contrary, small yards are not enough, depending on its proportions.

From Words to Ambience: Towards an Architectural Daylighting Design Based on Users’ Perceptions and Behaviours

This paper presents an investigation aiming to demonstrate the possible move from words to ambience in order to achieve an architectural daylighting design. This latter is mainly based on the users' perceptions and behaviours. It was assumed that the daylighting conceptual tools of an architect namely words, shapes and numbers could correspond together in such a way they characterize various luminous environments. Hence, a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is undertaken and allows collecting several varying data including users' expressed perceptions and observed behaviours, measured physical parameters of the luminous environment and built space as well as the characteristics of the climatic, cultural and social context. These data are in form of textual expressions, numerical quantities or categorized shapes. The statistical analysis of these data reveals several correspondences between four words, e.g. luminous, and several parameters variably leading to furniture characteristics, architectural space properties as well as the user's behaviour.

How current trends in the design of facades influence the functional quality of interior spaces

2015

During the last decade, all construction standards evolved rapidly and became increasingly demanding in terms of energy performance. The joint reduction of heating and cooling loads resulted in a rise of the relative importance of electricity consumption due to indoor lighting. As a result, the question of daylight is getting more and more important and has to be addressed carefuly in the design process. In this context we can see the emergence of a dominant trend in the design of facades of nonresidential buildings, which results in an alternating composition of glass and opaque vertical stripes. Beyond the aesthetic implications, we do not allow ourselves to judge, we can imagine that this type of system can be advantageous in terms of building rationality. However, thi s paper shows that this design trend have some negative implications in terms of thermal behaviour without bringing any decisive advantage with respect to visual comfort and natural lighting. We evaluated the perfo...

Daylighting, Space, and Architecture: A Literature Review

Enquiry: A Journal for Architectural Research

Daylighting dynamism and constant change can characterize buildings and spaces with a living quality that cannot be achieved with any other design element. However, daylighting can create unwanted lighting conditions in the visual field causing discomfort and glare. This may affect the performance of building occupants such as workers or students. Consequently, designing for daylighting needs a good understanding of daylighting. Designers can rely on information from simulation software to re-imagine the space, especially to examine possible unexpected visual discomfort conditions.This paper aims to represent different visual comfort evaluation methods that can help decision-makers make better informed decisions. Different definitions and structures associated with daylight and glare are examined. It also presents a review of the literature of previous research conducted on daylighting, visual comfort analysis and glare studies.

THE INFLUENCE OF SURROUNDING BUILDINGS ON EFFECTIVE DAYLIGHTING OF INTERIORS

A building envelope separates the interior and the exterior environments. It serves as the outer shell to protect the indoor environment as well as to facilitate its climate. According to a research conducted by the Energy Foundation in 2005, Ghana's energy needs may quadruple by the year 2020.Today, zero energy buildings are environmentally responsive and produce at least as much energy as they consume. This necessitates the provision of energy-efficient buildings to minimise the need for supplementary artificial lighting which will eventually save occupants and reduce the load exerted on the available energy sources. During the design stage, a building may be designed to conform to all standards necessary to achieve energy efficiency with natural daylight and ventilation. Since the building would not be constructed in isolation, but within a built environment, the surrounding buildings may influence the rate at which these natural elements are harnessed. This paper is aimed at assessing the impact of surrounding buildings on a subject building. To achieve this, different building types were assessed, where daylighting probabilities were analysed with Autodesk Ecotect Analysis tool. The subject building, a multi-storey residential building was initially analysed in isolation. The subject building was later surrounded by both low and high-rise buildings to assess their impact .the analysis revealed a reduction in energy efficiency, where the subject building is surrounded by only high rise buildings. The research concluded that the appropriate strategy may be to employ an appropriate mix of building types whilst harnessing natural daylight for energy efficiency.