Daylighting offers the potential to save electrical energy
and reduce peak demand for lighting, the major consumer of
energy in a variety of buildings. However, widespread adoption
of daylighting techniques is hampered by the lack of both daylight
resource information and simple, reliable methods of testing
daylighting designs.
To surmount these obstacles, facilities for collecting
illuminance data and for testing small-scale and full-size
models have been established. These are (1) an extensively
instrumented resource measurement station, (2) a sun angle
simulator for exploring the geometries of the sun and the building
during the early stages of design, (3) a heliodon to allow detailed
illuminance and luminance distribution measurements in scale
models, and (4) a rotating test building for quantitative and
qualitative assessments of full-scale components.
The current research efforts have been using these
facilities to seek ways of projecting light admitted through walls
deep into interior spaces. Sidelighting systems are of interest
because the wall is the only available source of daylight in many
commercial buildings.
Innovative static and dynamic reflector assemblies have
been examined and proven effective. Compared with typical
sidelighting designs, the systems examined in this study project
light deeper and produce more uniform illuminance across the
space
