Designing Adaptability Strategy to a Novel Kinetic Adaptive Façade (NKAF); Toward a Pioneering Method in Dynamic-objects Daylight Simulation (Post-Processing)

In the climate-change period, all countries strived to design sustainable buildings. As environmental influenced contributes to design decisions, to save energy and to achieve the sustainable development indicator according to Egypt Vision 2030. This can be achieved by accessing the maximum of daylight, consequently the facade design has a major impact on daylight performance. This paper aims to evaluate the daylight performance by using dynamic shading, in a university classroom in Egypt. It also aims to determine the optimal angle for each hour of the shade’s movement. Based on LEED 4 daylight requirements and IES, daylight analysis was integrated using DESIGNBUILDER V6, RADIANCE, and DAYSIM programs. The simulation measured the basic case of the case study and then compared it with using dynamic shading system. Incrementing the efficiency of daylight needs to increase spatial daylight autonomy (SDA) and reduce annual sunlight exposure (ASE); hence, the importance of this research is to take up studies of spatial daylight autonomy (SDA), annual sunlight exposure (ASE), useful daylight illuminance (UDI), working plan, and daylight factor over a year. This paper proved the necessary of using dynamic shading system. As it helped in changing the angle of inclination shading system with change the angle of inclination the sun on the openings of the building. It adapted the change from the educational activity (the whiteboard and data shown) in the case study. If the opening has wide areas in the eastern facade, the overall value of illumination at 9 a.m. is much higher than at 3 p.m. When using dynamic shades, the daylight efficiency is raised, in detail, by UDI, ASE, and the daylight factor raised by 58%, 45%, and 4.3%, respectively. This research will help architects and decision-makers to improve lighting performance in existing university buildings. It also achieved visual comfort in the classroom.

Daylighting plays an important role to enhance the comfort levels for the occupants in the building and also to reduce the usage of artificial lighting during daytime conditions. Excess daylighting of the building increases sun lighting inside the building. Daylighting depends on number of openings provided in each direction of the building and also on wall window ratios. The present study is done for an office building for different orientations with different WWR such as 20%, 25% and 30%. In this study daylight illuminance and day light factor analysis is carried by using daylight simulation in Design Builder. Analysis is done for 12 models. By comparing the analysis, it has been observed that WWR of 25% for all orientation has daylight illuminance value with in desirable ranges when compared to 20% and 30%.

As one of the most critical considerations in the contemporary era, sustainability heightens the need to find more suitable solutions for architectural designs. Climate adaptive building shells (CABS) are among the most promising alternatives for achieving sustainability goals by reducing energy consumption. Regardless of technological developments, this type of system has a reputation for increasing the distraction of occupants and consequently decreasing their satisfaction level. This research has been developed to focus on the occupant-centric study rather than technological advancements of the system. This study introduces the user–façade interaction scenarios and applies this classification on CABS office buildings. The purpose of this study is to introduce a new multi-domain taxonomy for CABS office buildings and update the database of this system by adding a new variable focusing on occupants. The study was designed on the foundation found with PRISMA methodology which highlights the lack of occupant-centric research on CABS. The research carried on as a qualitative method with an inductive approach which with the literature review introduced the user–façade interaction scenarios and the latest update of the CABS database. Accordingly, the office cases were categorized within different climatic zones, and later as a correlational study, each case was studied based on user–façade interaction scenarios. Analysis of case databases according to user–façade interaction types clears the lack of development in the majority of scenarios. Lastly, the study concluded by introducing a novel multi-domain taxonomy of CABS office buildings by considering user–façade interaction scenarios. The further value of this study is to be a foundation for future studies on CABS office buildings by considering the occupants as a primary element of the research.

Natural daylight within buildings is one of the solutions to effectively reduce energy consumption in high-rise office buildings (HOB). The management of natural lighting depends largely on the characteristics of the building envelope (BE) in the building, especially the facade system. Adaptive facade (AF) is one of the solutions in the BE system of the building that helps to solve numerous problems in energy-efficiency and in particular, the balance of natural lighting. In this research, it is proposed that a kinematic AF system integrated onto the single-layer glass facade structure be implemented in HOBs in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), through the study of the typical case being the LIM Tower office building located in central HCMC. The kinetic AF system is integrated in order to improve the quality of natural lighting through 3 statistics: Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE), spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA), and Daylight Factor (DF). Results from simulations utilizing Rhinoceros-Grasshopper software (Computer-Aid Design) and Climate Studio plugin show that the AF phenotypes significantly reduce the luminance in the room—a reduction of appropriately 50% compared to the case without AF. In cases of the proposed AF phenotypes, the ASE index decreased below 10% compared to natural daylight conditions and achieved 3 points according to LEED V4.1. During the daily opening and closing cycle of the AF, the ASE and sDA indices don’t observe many sudden fluctuations and remained stable within the allowed lighting range.KeywordsAdaptive facadesDaylightingEnergy-efficientOffice building

Daylight simulators (i.e., D50, D55, D65, and D75 simulators) play an important role for industrial applications, such as surface color industry, recipe formulation, and graphic arts industry. Conventional light sources, including xenon lamps, tungsten‐halogen lamps, and fluorescent lamps, have been used as daylight simulators. In this article, a genetic algorithm is employed to investigate optimized channels for each daylight simulator. It is found that at least six LED channels are required to produce high quality daylight simulators in terms of the CIE Metamerism Indices. Furthermore, it is possible to create a spectrally tunable daylight simulator using six LED channels with wavelengths of 357, 420, 474, 533, 595, and 660 nm. This wavelength combination with appropriate intensity combinations can produce D50, D55, D65, and D75 simulators with good performance, in terms of the CIE Metamerism Indices. The color appearance of various color samples or objects under such a daylight simulator is found to be very similar to those under a corresponding daylight illuminant. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 419–423, 2017

This study examines the influence of vegetation on indoor daylight performance in school buildings located in the hot–humid climate of Chennai, India. With increasing urban development leading to the cutting or relocation of trees, their role in modulating interior daylight conditions has become critically relevant but remains underexplored in the literature. Recognizing a significant research gap in this area, this study employed a simulation-based approach using DesignBuilder 7.4 software. A government school in South Chennai, India, was chosen for this study. A total of 208 scenarios were generated by varying the window-to-wall ratio (WWR), facade orientation, floor level, and tree presence. Daylight performance was evaluated using spatial daylight autonomy (sDA), annual sunlight exposure (ASE), and useful daylight illuminance (UDI), based on IES LM-83-12 and LEED v4 standards. Simulation results showed that a 20% window-to-wall ratio (WWR) failed to meet daylight standards, while a 30–40% WWR with shading consistently performed well. Trees significantly improved daylight metrics, like sDA, UDI, and ASE, more so than orientation or floor level. This study urges regulatory mandates for climate-resilient schools, emphasizing fenestration and landscape integration.

Lighting represents a significant component of commercial buildings, particularly office buildings. Fluorescent lighting is invariably used in all commercial, industrial and residential areas. A significant amount of lighting energy is wasted every day by leaving the lights on and not utilizing daylight energy. However, if daylight illuminance can be harnessed, this will reduce the electricity consumption of fluorescent lamps and save energy. This paper explains possible significant savings in lighting energy consumption and hence in costs, without reducing the performance and visual satisfaction in office or industrial buildings. It is proposed to obtain energy saving by reducing the supply voltage without degradation in lighting performance. Experimental results confirm that as much as 20% of electrical energy can be saved by reducing about 9% of the supply voltage, without noticeably affecting light output while complying with lighting standard limits.

Physical or virtual models are commonly employed to visualize the conceptual ideas of architects, lighting designers and daylighting researchers. The models are also used to assess the daylighting performance of their buildings, particularly when Complex Fenestration Systems (CFS) are considered. Recent studies have revealed a general tendency of physical models to over- estimate the performance, usually expressed through work plane illuminance and daylight factor profiles, when compared to that of the real building. These discrepancies can be attributed to several experimental errors. To analyze the main sources of error, a set of comparisons between a real building, a virtual model and a physical model was undertaken. The real building in our case consisted of a full scale test module with a south-facing windows designed for experimentation on daylighting systems. A virtual model was a computed model created in Radiance program while the physical model was a scale model (1:10) of the real case. The fenestration systems considered in this study were a simple window (double glazing) and two CFS (Laser-cut panel and Prismatic film). The physical model was placed in outdoor conditions similar to that of the real building as well as under a scanning sky simulator (for both real sky luminance distribution and CIE standard sky); the virtual model simulations were carried out with the program Radiance using the GenSky function (for CIE standard sky) and the Partial Daylight Factor (PDF) method, the later using the real sky luminance distribution acquired by a digital sky scanner at the same time as the real building's daylight performance was assessed. The daylighting performances of the building, daylight factor (DF) for overcast sky and illuminance ratio (IR) for clear sky, were monitored using illuminance meters: a set of sensors for exterior illuminance and another set of equally spaced 7 sensors placed at 1m intervals starting from the window plane for the interior space were used for that purpose. The interior surface luminance of both real building and physical model was measured using a luminance meter and a High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging technique (within the Photosphere program). The Radiance program was used to determine the interior surface luminance within the virtual model. The measured performance of the real case, physical models and virtual models were compared, the causes of discrepancies between the real building and models were analyzed. The causes of errors that were evaluated were modeling of building details and dimensions, CFS modeling, mocking-up of the photometric properties (surface reflectance and window transmittance), model location as well as photometer features. To study the impact of these error sources on daylighting performance assessment, virtual models created using the Radiance program were used to achieve a sensitivity analysis of modeling errors. The significant factors were considered, leading to a set of modeling guidelines. The experimental study shows that large discrepancies can occur in daylighting performance figures. For example if glazings are omitted from the model's window, a relative divergence of 25% to 40% can be found at different points in the room, suggesting more light entering than actually measured in the real building. Inaccuracy in window transmittance inaccuracy is a major cause of errors commonly found in daylight modeling. In addition, significant discrepancies can be caused by even slight error in surface reflectance values. Only 10% overestimation of surface reflectance modeling leads up to 80% relative errors in work plane illuminance for a simple window and up to 90% for the assessment of CFS. Continuous sky distribution presented more accurate results than 145 sky sectors simulation, particularly when CFS were evaluated. These discrepancies can be reduced by making an effort to mock up the geometric and photometric features including the daylight simulation of the models carefully. A checklist presented in this thesis can be used as a guideline to help the daylight designers to estimate and avoid errors when assessing daylighting performance.

Analysis of the daylight performance of a glazing system with Parallel Slat Transparent Insulation Material (PS-TIM)

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Designing daylight-based spaces has gained increasing attention due to its numerous benefits and alignment with global sustainability standards. However, limited research has focused on how architectural layouts affect daylight distribution and visual quality, particularly in educational environments. This research aims to address this gap by integrating spatial layout analysis with daylighting and visual quality metrics to enhance daylight benefits across seven school plan layouts as case studies. Using a systematic review and simulation-based methodology, daylight performance is evaluated with Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI up, UDI, UDI low) and Daylight Autonomy (DA) using the Honeybee plugin and Radiance engine in Rhinoceros software. Visual quality is also explored through Isovist and Depth Map analysis, focusing on metrics including connectivity (C), Isovist area (A), drift angle (DA), Maximum radial line (RL(L)), Minimum radial line (RL(S)), and Visual Mean Depth. Simulation validation is conducted through a lux meter in a real classroom in Tehran, Iran, along with SPSS analysis to explore the accuracy and correlations between the results. Findings reveal that well-designed interior layouts significantly enhance both daylight distribution and visual quality. School with layout C, by higher Drift Angle (DA) and longer visual range (Max radial) can provide a dynamic and open environment, outperforming other layouts in both daylighting (DA = 52.93%, UDI = 68.17%) and visual quality metrics (Drift Angle ≈ 220, Connectivity ≈ 600). Layouts F and E also perform well, while Models D and G show less daylight performance (UDI-low ≈ 31–34%). The outcomes emphasize the importance of an integrated design approach including DA, UDI, Isovist metrics, and plan layouts, offering a new framework to enhance daylight benefits in educational spaces. It also provides valuable insights to improve architectural schools’ designs, contributing to more sustainable, visually enriched, and energy-efficient learning environments.

Improving thermal comfort often impacts daylight, creating trade-offs that remain underexplored, particularly in tropical dwellings. Overheating metrics—essential for assessing thermal conditions in warm regions—are entirely absent from daylight performance analysis. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and desirability functions were employed to optimize the thermal and daylight performance of a typical low-rise tropical housing typology. Specifically, this approach simultaneously optimized Indoor Overheating Hours (IOH) and Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) metrics through an Overall Desirability (D). Each response required only 138 simulation runs (~ 30 h: 276 runs) to determine optimal values for passive strategies: window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and roof overhang depth across four orientations (eight factors). Initial screening based on fractional factorial design, identified four key factors using stepwise and Lasso regression, narrowed down to three: roof overhang depth on the south and west, WWR on the west, and WWR on the south. Then, RSM optimization yielded an optimal solution (west/south roof overhang: 3.78 m, west WWR: 3.76%, south WWR: 29.3%) with a D of 0.625 (IOH: 8.33%, UDI: 79.67%). Finally, robustness analysis with 1,000 bootstrap replications provided 95% confidence intervals for the optimal values. This study balances thermal comfort and daylight with few experiments using a computationally-efficient multiobjective approach.

Machine learning-based real-time daylight analysis in buildings

The Parigi mechanism, invented by the author, is described and defined rigorously with the use of the kinetic reciprocal system (KRS) algorithm. The mechanism possesses one degree of freedom (DOF) and consists of a network of elements reciprocally connected with pin-slot joints. The network can be extended infinitely and retain one DOF, regardless of the number of elements added. The principle of the KRS algorithm is presented, and the inputs required to generate the Parigi mechanism are described. A KRS adaptive facade based on the Parigi mechanism is proposed. Since the mechanism possesses one DOF, a single actuator can actuate it. Therefore, a facade based on this mechanism can be engineered with a reduced mechanical complexity, while allowing the control of building physics performance (daylight illumination, solar gain, ventilation, acoustics), as well as quantifiable (privacy, view) and unquantifiable (composition, aesthetic sense of the movement) architectural parameters.

The analysis presented in this paper focuses on the energetic aspects of the use of photovoltaic (PV) systems in office buildings. Energy generation from PV system has been simulated on an hourly time scale and compared with the energy demand of two office buildings located in Krakow (southern Poland). The buildings’ annual load exceeded 1 GWh in both cases. The analysis dealt with estimating how much energy generated by a PV system can be utilized on-site (self-consumption) and how big the energy surpluses will be (energy generation greater than demand). Capacities of PV systems ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 MW have been considered. Also, the impact of PV generation on the residual load parameters and changes in the maximal monthly and hourly energy demand were investigated. The results show that although the building energy demand is similar (in terms of annual volume of energy consumed) the potential of PV systems to cover it is different. The 100-kW PV system can reduce the observed hourly peak energy demand by 1% in December but by over 30% in June (respectively, from 171 kWh to 169 kWh, and from 333 kWh to 255 kWh). Considering the annual patterns of the office buildings’ energy demand and PV generation (both have their respective peaks in summer), the application of a PV system changes the office building energy demand pattern significantly from the perspective of the power system operator. After installing 500 kW PV in an office building consuming 1 GWh annually, the months with highest demand are no longer in summer but in winter.