The Visual and Thermal Impact of Skylight Design on the Interior Space of an Educational Building in a Hot Climate

Skylights have been among the important devices in architecture for providing sufficient daylight in an interior space. The design of a skylight, in terms of shape, orientation, and glazing specification has a great visual and thermal impact on any internal space, and thus on the choice for its optimum design. This study evaluates the daylight factor, glare and cooling loads for different designs of skylight and compares them with one another to select the best design among them. In addition to the base skylight-free case, twelve cases, categorized into three groups, were analyzed and compared. The groups, named A, B, and C, have sets of fixed parameters that differ from one group to another. The cases in Group A showed a sharp increment in cooling loads, which became significantly higher than the other two groups had, although the lighting levels were not necessarily so. Groups B and C showed varying increments in lighting levels, while the cooling loads were relatively close. Case B-4 was considered the best among the twelve studied cases

Evaluation of lighting conditions in portable classrooms and analysis for alternative daylighting systems

Lighting conditions in multiple classrooms in central Texas were assessed, and the feasibility of improving portable classroom daylighting via alternative daylighting systems was also evaluated. Results indicate that surveyed portable classrooms generally provide sufficient levels of light with artificial lighting systems, but have less uniform lighting distribution than permanent classrooms. To evaluate the daylight availability in portable classrooms, a model was developed and verified using field data. Climate-based daylighting simulation was performed using DIVA for Rhino, which uses Radiance and DAYSIM as simulation engines. Results from the annual daylighting analysis suggest that limited amounts of daylight were available in portable classrooms over the course of a year. In order to assess the feasibility of improving portable classroom daylighting conditions, parametric studies were completed to investigate how different factors affect the levels of light in classrooms. Simulation results suggest that increasing window area and higher window placement allow more light into the classroom. Different external shading systems also affect the indoor daylight level. However, the impact of other factors, including building orientation, ceiling-to-floor height, and classroom length-to-width ratio is minimal. While changing the window systems for an existing portable building can require a large construction effort and financial commitment, retrofitting with tubular skylights is a more approachable option. Daylighting analysis shows eight 356-mm (14-inch) diameter tubular skylights can provide the portable classroom with a sufficient light level for more than 60% of occupied hours. When daylighting alone cannot provide sufficient light, lighting control will successfully combine a daylighting system and an artificial lighting system to provide an adequate lighting environment.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

The simultaneous occurrence and relationship of sunlight and skylight under ISO/CIE standard sky types

In daylight science the availability of sunlight and skylight at different times has been studied because of the desire to use daylight in both exterior and interior spaces. Exterior skylight illuminances under overcast skies were adopted as a standard for window design in the past. Current ISO/CIE sky types are standardised as relative luminance patterns normalised to the zenith. In this paper, the zenith luminance in candela/square metre and the resulting diffuse illuminance in lux are determined for all sky types. Furthermore, the proportions of sunlight and skylight under different levels of turbidity are found and documented. Efforts to harmonise electric lighting and daylighting standards need to analyse the data on available daylight in physical units in order to ensure energy savings that respect human requirements as well as providing information suitable for computer-aided design

A Study on Natural Lighting Design Strategies for Teaching Buildings in Hot-summer and Cold-winter Zone of China—A case of the Arts and Sciences Building of Xinyang Normal University

The natural lighting of buildings plays an important role in creating a comfortable indoor light environment and reducing the energy consumption of artificial lighting. Teaching buildings have special requirements for the indoor light environment. Classroom glare, corridor backlit, and low natural illumination in corridor are light pollution problems easily appear in teaching building, which cannot be ignored in the design of teaching building. Regarding the issues above, the paper took the Arts and Sciences Building of Xinyang Normal University as an example, through the architectural modeling, space forms, facade effects and other features, used VELUX simulation software to simulate the illuminance and daylighting parameters of different sunroofs and provided solutions for classroom glare and corridor lighting. Ultimately, the paper analyzed the building lighting energy saving schemes based on regional climate and environment, and found out the best balance point for the energy saving design of lighting and thermal environment, meanwhile, provided valuable and practical reference for lighting design of corridor skylights in the region

Authenticity of the Light Environment of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Daylight is one of the essential elements in the human experience of architectural space, and this is especially the case with the historic buildings that predate the wide-spread use of electric light. With a historic building, the architect’s original design intent for daylighting may be diminished by a variety of factors: environmental context, replacement of glazing material, soiling, window treatments, introduction of artificial light, interventions for the improvement of energy efficiency, and removal or abandonment of external shading devices such as shutters. By operating computational simulation of the indoor daylight environment on a chosen historic building, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, this thesis is to estimate how light quality has altered over time and how it has changed the viewer’s appreciation of a space

Direct Beam Solar Lighting System

A direct beam solar lighting system for collecting and distributing sunlight into a room. The system includes a rotatable solar collector head to receive sunlight and to reflect the sunlight downward into a transition tube having a reflective interior surface. The light-concentrating transition tube reflects sunlight into a reflective light tube which directs the reflected sunlight through a plenum space into the room. The system includes a drive mechanism for rotating the rotatable solar collector, and a light fixture at end of the light tube to disburse said reflected sunlight onto a ceiling and a wall in the room. In an embodiment the system includes one or more homogenizing reflectors within the solar collector for collecting the sunlight and directing the sunlight more uniformly over the aperture of the transition tube.In an alternative embodiment, the solar collector includes a rotatable tiltable mirror for providing two-axis tracking

Natural lighting for sustainable design of art exhibition spaces: daylighting design catalogue

Qualificació obtinguda: 7,5 Màster universitari en Disseny -- Contemporary DesignThe present thesis is a research work about natural lighting oriented to sustainable design of art exhibition spaces like galleries and museums, which aims to expose a strategy for the use of daylight and sustainability into architecture. Initially there was a description of some of the main methods and evolution surrounding natural lighting as a sustainable design approach. Chapter 2 explores natural lighting characteristics, chapters 3 and 4 present study cases analysis, chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 rides a text and images that involves aspects of design and daylight strategies developed through an experiment. All theories in this work is an epistemological level that opens new avenues for design exploration. This investigation exposes empirical strategies of using a daylight catalogue to the development of sustainable solutions concerning light control. For this, it is used historical background to study how natural light was used in the contemporaneity in order to apply new concepts of sustainability. The light has the power to change the space sensation and to give us time perception. Its an element available in nature that can save energy, promote health and enhance art experience