Simulating Physiological Potentials of Daylight Variables in Lighting Design

Mimi Ravn,Ellen Kathrine Hansen,Georgios Triantafyllidis,Gabriela Mach

doi:10.3390/su14020881

Abstract

A holistic approach to daylight dynamics in our built environment can have beneficial outcomes for both physiological and visual effects on humans. Simulations of how daylight variables affect light levels on the horizontal work plane are compared to their physiological effects, measured as melanopic EDI (Melanopic Equivalent Daylight Illuminance) on a vertical plane. The melanopic EDI levels were calculated in a simulated office space in ALFA software (Adaptive Lighting for Alertness) employing the daylight variables of orientation, time of day, season, sky conditions and spatial orientation. Results were analyzed for how daylight design can contribute to the physiological effects of dynamic light in office buildings. Daylight is shown to be a sufficient light source in the majority of cases to meet the recommended values of EDI and provide the suggested horizontal lx level according to the Danish Standards. A mapping of daylight conditions, focusing on the specific factors presented here, can provide guidelines in the design process and future smart building systems. The complex interrelationship between these parameters is important to acknowledge when working with daylight dynamics as a sustainable element in architecture and lighting design.

Highlights

Introduction of Daylight Variables in LightingDaylight is the planet’s primary energy source [1]
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW The melanopic Equivalent Daylight Illuminance (EDI) calculations are analyzed according to a minimum recommenda6 of 12 tion of 250 melanopic EDI lx during the day [11]
The melanopic EDI calculations are analyzed according to a minimum recommendarecommended minimum for both melanopic andinthe horizontal lx

Summary

Introduction

Introduction of Daylight Variables in LightingDaylight is the planet’s primary energy source [1]. Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) specifies “melanopic EDI to provide guidance on how to manipulate the human lighting environment for non-visual responses in people with a regular, day-active schedule [3]”. By understanding light as something that both has a visual and physiological effect upon humans, we must rethink how we implement light in our everyday environments and thereby our approaches to lighting design; how do we quantify and measure these different qualities of light? The aim is to investigate ways that architects and lighting designers can implement integrative dynamic lighting in the early design phase through simulations of both visual and physiological effects of dynamic light

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Conclusion