Abstract
Due to the multiple benefits on energy, well-being, comfort, and the economy, the utilization of daylight remains an imperative topic of architectural design. With the remarkable ability of drawing and increasing daylight deep into the core of buildings, atriums with a large proportion of glazing have become one of the most preferred design forms. The concomitant and unexpected visual discomfort in modern buildings, however, has drawn increasing concerns. Therefore, this study investigated the relation between glazing proportion and daylight performance, as well as the impact of building height and atrium types on daylight performance in atrium buildings by using an annual dynamic simulation method and metrics. It was found that extending glazing proportion had prominent effectiveness in the enhancement of daylighting; building height had a negative influence; round and square types of buildings performed much better than rectangular ones. Moreover, to inform a practical design, we analyzed the link between increasing daylight and visual comfort from the perspective of balancing them, and then proposed a design guide for atrium roof-glazing sizing.
Highlights
The benefits and advantages of daylighting, including energy saving, health improvement, and cost saving, have been verified by a number of previous studies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Attempting to balance the issue of atrium daylighting that overlights the top floors but provides insufficient daylight at lower floors, this study investigated the impact of the roof-glazing size of atriums, atrium shapes, and building heights on building daylighting performance, and proposes an intuitional atrium roof-glazing sizing guide for making design decisions at an early stage
This study explored the influence of atrium roof-glazing size, building heights, and atrium shapes on the daylighting performance of large atrium buildings through a dynamic computer-simulation method
Summary
The benefits and advantages of daylighting, including energy saving, health improvement, and cost saving, have been verified by a number of previous studies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Daylighting improves productivity and sales [1,2]. One of the studies from the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie. Mellon University identified that better-lighting environments could create 0.7%–23% productivity gains, and a 40% increase in sales [1]. Enhancing daylighting is a fundamental strategy for sustainable building design [3,10]. Atrium buildings firstly emerged in the 19th century [10].
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