Optimum window position in the building façade for high day-light performance: Empirical study in hot and dry climate

Messaouda Rais,Bálint Baranyai,Adel Boumerzoug,Sara Elhadad

doi:10.1556/606.2020.15.2.19

Messaouda Rais, Bálint Baranyai + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1556/606.2020.15.2.19

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Abstract

Abstract:Day-lighting studies in buildings play a major role in indoor environmental investigation and can be conducted at the early stages of building design. Window position significantly affects day-lighting performance. This paper assessed the impacts of the window position on the visual comfort through two main factors; daylight factor and light uniformity in the hot and dry climate zone. In this study different window positions have been examined to achieve optimal visual comfort, using a dynamic simulation through Vi-suit plugin for Blender 3D software that controls the external application Radiance software. The results revealed that the window position at sill start from 1.4 m of a room characterized by (4.30 m × 3.00 m × 3.00 m) is the best compromising solution that complies with the daylight factor and light uniformity standards in the indoor environment. The findings of this study provide a more detailed and comprehensive analysis of the window design for architects/designers in the early building design stages in the hot and dry climate region.

Highlights

Buildings are the largest consumer, attributing approximately 40% of the world’s energy consumption
All the values are conforming according to the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) standard, which indicates that the average daylight factor should be more than 2% in living rooms
The window position variation shows a significant impact on the average daylight factor; the maximum value of this factor was reached while the windowsill height was 1.1 m for all the design days

Summary

Introduction

Buildings are the largest consumer, attributing approximately 40% of the world’s energy consumption. Large energy consumption of buildings is accounted for heating, cooling, and lighting [1]. In residential buildings, cooling is the largest energy consumer in a hot and dry climate, while lighting is the active energy consumption in commercial buildings in the US [2]-[4]. Most of the building’s electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Using these energy resources has caused many environmental problems like climate change and global warming [5]. To ensure best practices in comfort and visual performance for building occupants with less energy consumption, visual comfort related to high daylight performance should be considered at the design stage [10]

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