Designerly Approach to Design Responsive Façade for Occupant Visual Comfort in Different Latitudes

Abstract

In recent years, attention has focused on improving the health and satisfaction of employees by enhancing visual comfort in workplaces. This involves providing adequate natural daylight, glare control, and outdoor views. Adaptive facades, leveraging technological advancements, have gained popularity for improving indoor conditions but still face issues like window-area glare and insufficient daylight in rear spaces. Previous research indicates that inclined walls can help control glare and allow larger windows with better light distribution. This study examines the integration of an adaptive facade with an inclined wall to improve efficiency. It analyzes visual comfort in three cities with different latitudes and solar radiation angles: Mogadishu, Tehran, and Moscow. Using Grasshopper in Rhino software, the study evaluates visual comfort indices (UDI, ASE, sDA, DGP) for six employees on December 21 and June 21 at 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00. The results show that the integrated system effectively distributes daylight and controls glare, reducing it to 34% in Mogadishu and 29% in Tehran. However, in Moscow, the system is less effective, requiring facade rotation towards the sky to reduce glare to 25%. The research highlights the need to consider more variables such as window-to-wall ratio, material, and employees’ position or other objectives like energy consumption and thermal comfort for further research to improve the system.