Automatic evaluation and analysis of indoor visual comfort for sustainable building design using interpretable ensemble learning

This paper studies the characteristics of indexes and criteria related to the daylighting evaluation which is applied to architectural design in Japan. The paper further on clarifies the current situation of daylighting evaluation and the prospects for the future. As for the index concerning daylight acquisition and discomfort glare, this paper illustrates their historical development from its very first introduction to the most recent. By tracing it's development in chronological order, the paper demonstrates the extension of the evaluation contents and enables to distinguish one index from another. Although none of the existing index is perfect, understanding its limitations and characteristics can influence the architectural design. Regarding daylight acquisition, several indexes such as DA and UDI, which are based on annual simulation, had been introduced. These indexes contribute towards designing efficient lighting system including automated blind control and artificial lighting in response to the fluctuation of natural daylight. As for the measurement of discomfort glare, indexes such as PGSV and DGP had been introduced to control the real-time automated blind control system in response to signals from sensors and the image analysis technology. By looking at the development process, the evaluation methods are generally upgraded over time as the indexes are modified in accordance with the introduction of new technology. However, the latest indexes lack numerical standards to evaluate the performances of buildings and thus it is crucial to set up the standard for these indexes. As for the criterion, this paper clarifies the current evaluation system for daylighting mainly focusing on Japanese laws, standards, and the green building certification programs. The current Japanese Building Code regulates the minimum daylight acquisition, but other standards used in Japan, such as the JIS and AIJES are not adequate enough for a comprehensive evaluation of daylighting and visual comfort. The green building certification program, CASBEE does not have the appropriate system to evaluate performance by the computational simulation compared to other foreign leading green building programs like LEED or BREEAM. The standards must change in the near future to represent clear criteria for a comprehensive evaluation of daylighting and visual comfort. The criteria and evaluation must also include the daylight acquisition and the discomfort glare, and must be able to present designers with an appropriate numerical goal. In regard of CASBEE, it is strongly desired to keep up the rapid development of analysis technology, sensing technology and the evaluation indexes, by revising constantly and consistently.

With the idea of “people oriented” more and more popular, the analysis and evaluation of the assembly operations take into more consideration of human factors. In this paper, the comfort analysis and evaluation of an assembly operation were performed. Firstly, a thorough analysis of the assembly operation was carried out. According to the characteristics of the assembly operation and the main points of assembly comfort. Besides, the evaluation method of assembly comfort was developed, and the concrete procedure of the comfort evaluation was introduced in this paper. Finally, the evaluation method was verified by using an assembly case of an industrial manipulator which was simulated by using DELMIA (Digital Enterprise Lean Manufacturing Interactive Application) as the simulation platform. The evaluation results show that the comfort evaluation can truly reflect the comfort level of assembly and has a good application value.

At present, sustainable design is experiencing energy consumption and cost-effectiveness challenges in the building industry. A recent body of literature argues that the development of emerging smart digital technologies, such as Building Information Management (BIM) and blockchain (BC), offer immediate benefits to the industry. However, the current application of BIM and BC in the sustainable design and construction process focuses on smart energy and construction management, with little attention to addressing challenges for applying BIM to sustainable design and proposing strategies in terms of the usability of these technologies in the management of building construction projects. Therefore, this paper sets out to explore the potential roles of an integrated BIM and BC approach for sustainable building design information management. The first attempt is presented to use BC aided BIM for sustainable building design coordination and collaboration in multiple building stages. BC has the potential to address challenges that hinder the industry from using BIM for sustainable design, which has been unearthed. An innovative BC enhanced transaction process in BIM is required for sustainable building development. Roles of a user level driven smart contract system of BC can be used to enhance BIM system in the sustainable buildings process. The role of BC is primarily at user level driven smart contracts and their record value exchange capabilities. A user level (BIM stakeholders) driven BC technology for transaction in BIM process flow is revealed, and the user level (sustainable building design project stakeholders/BIM clients) driven and the smart contract enabled BIM+ BC architecture to address challenges of BIM for sustainable design has been further circulated according to the literature. Subsequently, a conceptual architecture of BIM + BC for Sustainable Building Design Information Management Framework in building project management has been proposed, validated, and refined. The Framework has two level encompassing structures and flow. The high-level framework is focused on strategy, whilst the low-level framework demonstrates technical components in detail. This architecture supporting project stakeholders in managing information, has the potential to achieve and ensure the realization of sustainable design goals through the interactive realization of smart contracts integrated into the user level driven BIM + BC system and its recording value exchange function through three user-driven levels, namely user, system, and transaction.

Patients with an ultraviolet blocking lens (UV) (n = 5) or blue filter lens (BB) (n = 8) after intraocular lens (IOL) replacement for cataract and age-adjusted controls (AACs) (n = 16) underwent a balanced crossover within-subject design. After 1.5 h of dark adaptation, they were exposed to polychromatic light at 6500 K (blue-enriched) and 2500 K and 3000 K (non-blue-enriched) for 2 hours in the evening. Visual comfort and mental effort were repeatedly assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (0 - 100) and the Visual Comfort and Mental Effort Rating Scale (0 - 100) for each light condition. The results were compared using mixed model analysis. The mean (± SD) age for AAC and patients with UV or BB was 69.8 ± 6.2 y, 70.8 ± 4 y, and 63.6 ± 5.6 y, respectively. Irrespective of the light condition, patients with UV and BB felt mentally more tired during the experiments compared to AACs (F = 6.15, p = 0.003). However, patients with BB were mentally more motivated to perform the exercises compared to patients with UV and AACs (F = 8.1, p < 0.001). Patients with BB perceived ambient light as less glary (F = 4.71, p = 0.01) than patients with UV. Blue ambient light was felt less intensely in patients with BB (F = 2.51, p = 0.042) compared to those with UV and the AACs. Lens replacement in older cataract patients may increase visual comfort and minimize mental effort. While subtle, the magnitude of these effects may depend on the type of intraocular lens. BB intraocular lenses may have potential benefits, as ambient light is perceived as having less glare and less visual tension.

Currently, the learning process in the classroom uses an LCD projector to display material on the white board. This LCD projector produces its own light, so the light source in the room will be added (beside daylight and artificial light). This condition makes a visual discomfort and not efficient energy uses. Based on previous study, the classroom users in UTP tower got visual comfort when the lamps were on 100% if projector used. But, in other condition when the projector is off, users will comfort if daylight and electric lighting combined. Based on these problems, this study is aimed to test the effective combination of daylight and artificial lighting so that the iso-contour of illumination spread evenly and visual comfort achieved. The method of experiment is used to find out the effect of various placements of artificial light that are on to the iso-contour of illumination. The experiments conducted with the help of simulation to experiment with design parameter is the placements of artificial light that turn on. The evaluation of visual comfort is based on the iso-contour of illumination and reflectance value on the indoor surface. The result of this research will show that the placements of light on will affect the illumination contour.

Industrial halls have a very high energy consumption due to existing production processes, heating, cooling, lighting. To reduce energy consumption, it is necessary to make a number of technical modifications to the structure itself, or the interior. The industrial sector is one of the largest consumers of energy. One way to save energy is to take advantage of daylight. Natural daylight is an important part of our daily lives at home and at work. Providing natural daylight to the work environment is essential for the personal well-being, work efficiency and safety of the users of this environment. This paper deals with the evaluation of visual comfort in an industrial hall. Visual well-being is assessed on the basis of physical calculations. These were implemented by the RADIANCE simulation program. The lighting calculation was performed for both the cloudy sky and the clear sky. The program also qualified and quantified the brightness distribution. Potential sources of glare have also been identified.

In order to clarify the quantitative relationship between students’ visual clarity, comfort, and environmental brightness in the light environment of multimedia classrooms in colleges and universities and obtain the threshold and influence trends of brightness, visual clarity, and visual comfort in the light environment of the multimedia classroom, this paper proposes the research on the relevant influence parameters of the light environment of the multimedia classroom. Based on the analysis of the current situation of multimedia use in China, this paper proposes taking brightness as the main parameter of indoor light environment evaluation to carry out students’ subjective evaluation experiments. The brightness range that can reflect the visual clarity and visual comfort of the experimenter is extracted by using multimedia combined with screen projection and HDRI technology. Finally, by analyzing the experimental data, combined with the operational definition of the psychophysical threshold, the functional relationship between visual clarity, comfort, and brightness in the light environment of a multimedia classroom is obtained through regression analysis and the threshold and extreme point data are calculated. The experimental results show that when the brightness range is 370.83 cd/m2 ≤ X ≤ 558.47 cd/m2, it has better visual clarity and visual comfort. When the brightness contrast is close to 10 : 1, the visual clarity is the highest; when the brightness contrast is close to 5 : 1, the visual comfort is the highest and decreases on both sides with the change in its value. Conclusion. The results of this experimental study can provide a basis for formulating and revising relevant laws and regulations in the future and provide a reference for the light environment design of multimedia classrooms in China.

A study on the factors simultaneously affecting visual comfort in classrooms: A structural equation modeling approach

Based on the typical parameters affecting the visual comfort of LED light source, this paper proposes a method to evaluate the visual comfort of light sources from the frame of physical evaluation parameters measurement. In the standard classroom environment, a comparative light source test system was established to measure the physical parameters of the LED light source under different color temperature conditions during day and night. Aiming at the visual comfort of different positions in standard classrooms, the subjective evaluation experiment based on visual comfort was carried out. an experimental scheme based on fuzzy neural network for visual comfort evaluation was proposed. Combining the subjective evaluation grade with physical parameters, modeling and simulating through fuzzy neural network, using the visual comfort evaluation model to explore the application strategy of the optimal LED light source, and providing data foundation and technical support for the development of human visual comfort evaluation standards.

It is becoming increasingly relevant that designs address sustainability requirements. The objectives of any sustainable design are: to reduce resource depletion of energy, water, and raw materials; prevent environmental degradation caused throughout the building lifecycle; provide a safe, comfortable and healthy living environment. Currently, the sustainability of a building is judged by standards codified in a rating system. (1) Although compliance with a sustainability rating system is not mandatory, increasingly, it is becoming a goal that many designers and authorities would like to achieve. However, there are impediments to the pervasive use of sustainable design rating systems. 1. Certification is expensive. ( 2 ) It is labor intensive, involving large volumes of data aggregation, information accounting and exchange, which, can be a deterrent to designers and the design process. 2. Ratings systems are periodically reviewed; as our understanding increase and technology improve, sustainability requirements on designs become more extensive and, sometimes, more stringent. (3) 3. Sustainable building design rating tools are not readily integrated into the design process whereby the design solution can be developed by different disciplines. 4. The design information model associated with a building may not contain the data (attributes) necessary to evaluate its design. 5. Information is disparate and distributed—requiring it to be supplemented, augmented from various sources, and managed for the different stages of a building design process In practice, designers tend to employ commercial (and reasonably stable) design tools, making it imperative to develop an approach that utilizes information readily and currently available in digital form in conjunction with rating system requirements. This research focuses on supporting sustainability assessment where designers need to evaluate the information in a design in order to fulfill sustainability metrics. The main research objective is an approach to integrating sustainability assessment with a design environment. This comprises: identifying informational requirements from rating systems; representing them in computable form; mapping them to information in a commercial design tool; and assessing the performance of a design. An overall framework for organizing, managing and representing sustainability information requirements is developed as the demonstrator. Case study of an actual project demonstrates the flow of information from a commercially available building information modeler and a sustainable building rating system. The process developed bridges sustainability assessment requirements with information from the model for preevaluation prior to submission for certification. Contributions include a technical implementation of sustainable design assessment for pre assessment through a process of identifying information availability, augmentation, representation and management focused on two credits (Reduce indoor water use and Minimum energy performance) over evolving rating standards, namely (LEED 2.1, LEED 2009 and LEED v4). These contributions are intended to enable designers, stakeholders, contractors and other professionals to communicate strategies and make informed decisions to achieve sustainability goals for a project from design through to operation. (1) Design choices are validated, by measuring design performance against criteria specified by the rating system. See Chapter 2: Research Background. (2) “Shame on you for perpetuating this myth that green design costs more even if integrated properly. LEED certification does, but green design need not.” (Kats, 2010) (3) “Sustainability is not static–it is iteratively changing, based on knowledge that connects science and design.” (Williams, 2007)

A multi-category intelligent method for the evaluation of visual comfort in underground space

Detailed insights in both visual effects of light and effects beyond vision due to manipulations in illuminance and correlated color temperature (CCT) are needed to optimize study protocols as well as to design light scenarios for practical applications. This study investigated temporal dynamics and interindividual variability in subjective evaluations of sensation, comfort and mood as well as subjective and objective measures of alertness, arousal and thermoregulation following abrupt transitions in illuminance and CCT in a mild cold environment. The results revealed that effects could be uniquely attributed to changes in illuminance or CCT. No interaction effects of illuminance and CCT were found for any of these markers. Responses to the abrupt transitions in illuminance and CCT always occurred immediately and exclusively amongst the subjective measures. Most of these responses diminished over time within the 45-minute light manipulation. In this period, no responses were found for objective measures of vigilance, arousal or thermoregulation. Significant interindividual variability occurred only in the visual comfort evaluation in response to changes in the intensity of the light. The results indicate that the design of dynamic light scenarios aimed to enhance human alertness and vitality requires tailoring to the individual to create visually comfortable environments.

Detailed insights in both visual effects of light and effects beyond vision due to manipulations in illuminance and correlated color temperature (CCT) are needed to optimize study protocols as well as to design light scenarios for practical applications. This study investigated temporal dynamics and interindividual variability in subjective evaluations of sensation, comfort and mood as well as subjective and objective measures of alertness, arousal and thermoregulation following abrupt transitions in illuminance and CCT in a mild cold environment. The results revealed that effects could be uniquely attributed to changes in illuminance or CCT. No interaction effects of illuminance and CCT were found for any of these markers. Responses to the abrupt transitions in illuminance and CCT always occurred immediately and exclusively amongst the subjective measures. Most of these responses diminished over time within the 45-minute light manipulation. In this period, no responses were found for objective measures of vigilance, arousal or thermoregulation. Significant interindividual variability occurred only in the visual comfort evaluation in response to changes in the intensity of the light. The results indicate that the design of dynamic light scenarios aimed to enhance human alertness and vitality requires tailoring to the individual to create visually comfortable environments.

Evaluation of visual comfort with daylighting levels using Daysim in different transparency and orientation in the UK

The proliferation of sustainable design approaches and assessment methods has resulted in a vast array of indicators. However, this abundance often leads to confusion during interpretation and application. Additionally, rapid urbanization and environmental concerns sometimes overshadow social and economic considerations, emphasizing environmental impact reduction. This study addresses these challenges through an integrated approach that combines a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) analysis to provide a holistic model for sustainable building design. The SLR was carried out individually through a relative Structural Query Language (SQL) regarding sustainable building design and vernacular principle. The output of SLR was subjected to DEMATEL model to recognize the holistic indicators interconnection and validate the proposed model. The research identified 23 global indicators for building sustainability worldwide, with five—Energy, Materials & Resources, Sites & Ecology, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Water—emerging as the most prevalent. Additionally, 22 consistently applied indicators in vernacular design practices exhibited significant overlap with those in sustainable design. This model integrated two novel indicators—Vernacular Principles and Social—Culture—with common sustainable building indicators. These primary indicators complement the common and applicable sustainable building indicators, ensuring a balanced approach that considers global contexts. DEMATEL analysis confirmed the validity and interconnection of these indicators, emphasizing the critical role of vernacular principles in achieving true sustainability.