Evaluation of Daylight Availability for Energy Savings.
Dynamic daylight simulations are very useful instruments in daylighting design process. They allow an in depth analysis of indoor daylight availability levels and define if they are adequate to perform a particular visual task. Their results can be used to design shading devices or lighting control systems and compare different technical solutions. The use of these simulations is likely to spread in the common design practice since some regulations and green building rating systems suggest their use. This paper presents dynamic daylight simulation results related to an open-plan office, performed with Autodesk 3ds Max Design ® , which is a calculation software validated by recent researches…
Lighting control systems: Factors affecting energy savings' evaluation
Abstract The use of automated lighting control systems allows to reduce lighting costs and to achieve significant energy savings. The energy performances of controls are affected by many factors, the impact of which is very difficult to account for during the design process. The goal of this paper is to describe the factors that influence the control systems’ energy performances, to analyze how the currently available calculation tools take them into account and finally to propose a simple method to adjust results obtained from the simulation software.
Indoor lighting quality: Effects of different wall colours
This paper reports the results of measurements performed in a test room to investigate the impact of using different wall colours and light scenes on indoor lighting quality. Eye level spectral irradiances were measured for a user located inside the room and seated at a desk. These measurements allow the use of the Irradiance Toolbox, which makes it possible to calculate equivalent illuminances for the photopigments in the human eye. Moreover, the CIECAM02 colour appearance model was used to investigate the variations in hue and chroma values of the different wall colours when changing the light scene. The results demonstrate that there are significant variations in eye level spectral irra…
A Survey on Daylighting Education in Italian Universities : Knowledge of Standards, Metrics and Simulation Tools
Daylighting is a strategic topic to achieve sustainable buildings, so it is more and more imperative that it is implemented in architecture curricula to prepare a new generation of daylighting-oriented practitioners. In this frame, the DAYKE project (Daylight Knowledge in Europe) was set up to explore the level of knowledge about daylighting among European professionals and students. DAYKE-Europe was replicated as DAYKE-Italy to study the knowledge of daylight standards, metrics and software among Italian architecture students, and to compare it to that observed within DAYKE-Europe. A sample of 542 questionnaires were collected in five universities. Primary outcomes were: (i) a general low …
Dynamic Lighting Strategies with Load Modulation Purposes to Reduce Peak Electrical Demand
This paper proposes a study about the feasibility to modulate the indoor artificial lighting, taking into account both achievable energy savings and comfort conditions, in order to reduce lighting electric loads. In particular, it focuses on the possibility, on one hand, to decrease the luminous flux and, on the other hand, to change the Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT), in order to decrease the absorbed power. Moreover, the impact of daylight-linked control systems was considered. Finally, the possibility to combine the different technical solutions was analysed. The paper proposes the definition of daily scheduling referred to lighting energy management, in order to modulate the maximu…
The role of weather data files in Climate-based Daylight Modeling
Abstract This paper illustrates the results of daylight simulations of a simple standalone office carried out using different weather data files (IWEC, Meteonorm, Satel-Light and TRY), for five European locations (Copenhagen, London, Milan, Nancy, Rome). The aim was to analyze the impact of choosing one weather file or another on the prediction of daylight availability in an indoor environment. Results were analyzed both in terms of Annual and Monthly Light Exposures and dynamic daylight performance metrics. It was demonstrated that IWEC, Meteonorm and Satel-Light weather files determine similar outcomes, instead TRY weather data always produces considerably lower values. Moreover the diffe…
Assessing the lighting systems flexibility for reducing and managing the power peaks in smart grids
Abstract The application of “shiftable” or “modulable” load (i.e. washing machine, dishwasher, etc.) in a Smart Grid, can provide energy saving or modify the power flows in the grid, allowing a reduction of the electrical power peak. This paper explores the possibility to modulate the indoor artificial lighting to support this reduction. The study examines the impact of two different measures of power shaving. On the one hand, the change of Correlated Colour Temperature of the light source, and, on the other hand, the dimming of its luminous flux. The possibility to merge the above-mentioned technical solutions is also analyzed. Based on these strategies, several daily schedules of lighting…
Dynamic daylight simulations: Impact of weather file’s choice
Abstract This paper is the second step of a research project aimed at investigating the impact of the use of different weather data files on daylight simulations’ results. Simulations were carried out for a simple standalone office using three weather files (IWEC, Meteonorm and Satel-Light) for two European locations (Copenhagen and Rome); moreover the office’s exposure was changed according to the four main orientations (North, East, South and West). Results were analyzed both in terms of Annual and Monthly Light Exposures, dynamic daylight performance metrics (DA, DAcon, UDI) and sunlight’s incidence. It was demonstrated that differences between the results obtained with the different wea…
Methods to Evaluate Lighting Quality in Educational Environments
Abstract The current standard for lighting of indoor work places (EN 12464-1) essentially prescribes values of photometric quantities (illuminance, Unified Glare Index, etc.); therefore it does not allow a comprehensive analysis of the luminous environment. In Italy, educational buildings do not always comply with the standard requirements for lighting. Therefore an analysis of their current state is needed and this paper illustrates two methods, developed by the authors, to carry out this investigation: the former is based on the analysis of luminance maps obtained through the HDR imaging technique whereas the latter focuses on the evaluation of non-visual effects of light.
Questionnaires and simulations to assess daylighting in Italian university classrooms for IEQ and energy issues
Abstract Results from the DAYKE-Italy project are presented. An investigation on daylighting in eight classrooms in five Italian universities was carried out through a combined approach: an ad-hoc survey administered to students to investigate how they perceive daylight in classroom, and numerical simulations (DIVA + ALFA) to calculate a set of objective metrics (daylight, circadian, and energy-related). A sample of 542 questionnaires was collected through two sessions and the subjective judgments were correlated to objective metrics. Results from descriptive and statistical analyses showed: (i) the correlation was significant for all daylight metrics: among them, average daylight factor an…
The impact of the software’s choice on dynamic daylight simulations’ results: A comparison between Daysim and 3ds Max Design®
Abstract Evaluating indoor daylight availability is extremely important in order to define the characteristics of an environment in terms of visual comfort and energy performances of lighting systems. The criticism of the static calculation approach based on Daylight Factor led to the development of the Climate Based Daylight Modeling (CBDM) one. Dynamic simulations are performed thanks to the use of specific software and the choice of a calculation tool or another could provide different output results. Therefore the aim of this paper is to compare results of dynamic daylight simulations carried out with two different software, Daysim and 3ds Max Design® and referred to a simple office loc…