Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
of Buildings
TERM PAPER
MBEM
SPA DELHI
Anurag Biswas
SPA/NS/BEM/636
Fu
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
RELEVANCE
PART I
DAYLIGHT FACTOR
Limitations:
CLIMATE BASED DAYLIGHT METRICS (CBDM)
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METHODS
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SIMPLIFIED MODELS
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SCALE MODELS
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COMPUTER MODELS
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PART II
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DIGITAL SIMULATIONS
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15
DFmean
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DFmedian
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Uniformity
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Daylight zone
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Measurement grid
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Example
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CALCULATION METHODS
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RADIOSITY
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RAY TRACING
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PHOTON MAPPING
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SKY TYPES
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The model
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Geometry
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External obstruction
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Surface properties
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Example
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User expertise
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Radiance
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Daysim
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Desktop Radiance
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IESve
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DIALux
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Relux
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Ecotect
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LightCalc
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Bibliography
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 DAYLIGHT FACTOR
Figure 2 dynamic autonomy
Figure 3 lightsolve result of an office with and without external shading
Figure 4 mirror box and scale model, belgium building research institute
Figure 5 one patch artificial sky
Figure 6 mirror box
Figure 7 artificial sky, building research institute
Figure 8 DF results in a room with two different window configurations, facade
window and roof window
Figure 9 DF results in the example room with a window in the facade
Figure 10 ecotect analyses
Figure 11 Illustration of a window model with 2 layers of polygon to model the
glass (left) and one layer (right)
Figure 12 Daylight factor results for the rooms with realistic surface properties
(left) and unrealistic surface properties (right)
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ABSTRACT
This report presents an overview of the different
daylighting tools and the assessment methods and
metrics involved behind those tools. Today, daylighting is
one of the prevailing issues which govern the design
decisions of built environment not only because it
ensures the overall well-being of inhabitants but also for
energy-saving. Several simulation tools are gaining
popularity. This report investigates various tools and
methods which are usually used around the world to
evaluate daylight quality of spaces.
INTRODUCTION:
Great daylighting design in buildings gives an agreeable
brilliant environment, as well as ensures energy savings
and healthy and comfortable environment for building
inhabitants. Yet, there is still no accord on the most
proficient method to survey what constitutes great
daylighting design.
Right now amongst building performance guidelines like
BRE Guidelines, Handbook on Functional Requirements
of Buildings (Other Than Industrial Buildings) published
by BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS, etc Daylighting
components (DF) or least illuminance qualities are the
standard. But past and recent exploration has
demonstrated the deficiencies of these measurements
(Panitz, et al., 2013). New digital tools for daylighting
investigation contains new more advanced metrics for
daylighting (Climate Base Daylight Metrics-CBDM).
For daylighting design of a project, evidence based
outline ought to be sought after either by empirical
studies (observed studies of existing built environment or
the investigation of physical scaled models) or by digital
reproduction. Investigation of the tools usually employed
by modelers has shown that, either digitally or physically,
yields results which can be varied to some extent (Attiaa,
et al., 2012). The two fundamental issues, as highlighted
by Attia et al. (2009), are firstly the ease of use and data
management of interface, and also the coordination of
information knowledge base (Attiaa, et al., 2012).
RELEVANCE
For climates such as those present in India (tropical)
overheating and glare are the main issues. Thus buildings
here are designed with over-shaded openings and/or
tinted glassed which reduce daylight levels availability.
Whereas, sufficient daylighting is also necessary for
overall well-being of inhabitants and energy
conservation. In todays world where energy is the most
valuable commodity, where a countrys economy and
foreign relations are determined by its energy need or
availability, arriving at optimum daylighting design
solution for built environments (largest consumer of
energy) is need of the hour. So evidence based
information are sought after by architects and building
professionals. Thus the need for easy to use daylight
simulation tools for architects. Survey of current daylight
design practices of design teams (in the USA, and
Canada), revealed that during the preliminary design
stage designers tend to rely on experience from early
work or/and rules of thumb and that computer tools are
increasingly being used during the design development
stage (Galasiu & Reinhart, 2008) .Such practices are yet to
pick up its pace in India.
This report evaluates the metrics and working principles
associated with daylight assessment tools and explores
their capabilities and usability in terms of architects point
of view.
PART I
METRICS AND METHODS
To quantify daylight QUALITY in a space, different tools
work with either static or dynamic metrics.
DAYLIGHT FACTOR
Daylight factor is the most familiar static metric. Daylight factor
(DF) is defined as the ratio between interior natural illuminance
on the work plane and simultaneous outdoor illuminance on a
horizontal plane in a perfectly unobstructed view, under an
overcast sky. These two values are result of the light received
from the same sky, whose distribution of luminance is
estimated, with direct sunlight not taken into account.It is
expreesed as %.
Limitations:
It does not take into account the climate in which the room is (eg, there is no
consideration on which percentage of the year really represent the overcast
sky.)
It does not verify the latitude of the room so does not take into account the
course of the sun and sunlight penetration in the room.
It does not consider the orientation of the glass window.
It provides no information on risk of glare.
It gives no information about quality of light.
If the architect does not consider the sun penetration, illuminance under favorable
sky condition and glare-risks, etc. design decisions solely derived from DF can
suggest buildings with too much glazing leading to overheating and glare.
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METHODS
SIMPLIFIED MODELS
Simplified models are discussed in Handbook on Functional Requirements of
Buildings (Other Than Industrial Buildings), 1988 published by BUREAU OF INDIAN
STANDARDS, 'Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight; a guide to good
practice', 2011 published by BRE, etc. These outline a set of metrics and
performance standards which architects and building professionals should achieve
usually based on Daylight Factor.
SCALE MODELS
A scaled down model of the built environment is prepared and subjected to analysis
under actual sunlight or artificial set-up mimicking original environment. Scale
models can be of various arrangements:
MIRROR BOX: Illuminance under overcast sky
MECHANICAL SUN: Penetration of sun in the scale model
SINGLE PATCH SKY AND SUN: Based on the division of sky in 145 patches
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(Cauwerts, 2010)
COMPUTER MODELS
There are several simulation programs to analyze daylight quality. These programs
are analyzed in the following section.
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PART II
DIGITAL SIMULATIONS
Today several computer based analyses tools are
available to measure daylight quality. But the
working principles and background logics are not
identical.
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The daylight factor (DF) can be assessed in various ways. It can be evaluated at a
specific point in the room to ensure DF levels for specific functions, e.g. at work
places, and it can be calculated on floor area or a working plane, depending upon
the function of the room. It is recommended to make use of a measurement grid,
if the area approach is applied.
DFmean
The DFmean is the average daylight factor for the
investigated grid.
DFmedian
The DFmedian is the middle daylight factor when the
measured daylight factors are sorted in an ordered list.
The median is so a term less dependent on low and high
daylight factors in the room, e.g. very low daylight factors
farthest away from the window and very high daylight
factors close to the window.
Uniformity
The uniformity of the DFs on a work plane can be defined
in two ways:
1) Ratio between DFmin / DFmean and
2) Ratio between DFmin / DFmax
According to the assessment method for sustainable buildings BREEAM 2.08 the
ratio between DFmin/DFmean should at least be 0.4 or the minimum point daylight
factor should be at least 0.8% (Iversen, et al., 2013).
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Daylight zone
A daylight zone in a room can be demarcated as the distance from the facade where
the recommended daylight factor is achieved.
Measurement grid
Grid systems should be made to indicate the points at which the illuminance values
are evaluated and verified for the immediate surrounding area(s), task area(s) and
background area(s). The following is in accordance with the description given in EN
12464-1:2011 and it is recommended to follow this instruction. (Iversen, et al.,
2013)
Square or near-square grids are preferred, the ratio of length to width of a grid cell
shall be kept between 0.5 and 2. The maximum grid size is given by:
=0.2 510()
Where,
p is the maximum grid cell size (m) 10 m
d is the longer dimension of the calculation area (m),. However, if the
ratio of the longer to the shorter side is 2 or more, then d becomes the
shorter dimension of the area.
The number of points in the relevant dimension is given by the nearest whole
number of d/p. The resulting spacing between the grid points is used to calculate
the nearest whole number of grid points in the other dimension. This will give a
ratio of length to width of a grid cell close to 1. A border of 0.5 m from the walls is
excluded from the calculation area except when a task area is in or extends into
this border area. An appropriate grid size shall be applied to walls and ceiling and a
border of 0.5 m may be applied also.
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Example
The examples below show DF measurements over a work plane in two rooms with
identical dimensions (3m x 6m x 2.5m) and material properties (floor 0.2, wall 0.5,
ceiling 0.8), but different window placement and glazing area. Room 1 is solely
illuminated by one large faade window with 5.9 m2 glazing area, and Room 2 is
illuminated by a combination of faade and roof window with 2.4m2 glazing area.
Its possible to observe that the DFmedian is a more Sensitive metric than the
DFmean in the room evaluation.
From the figures it can be seen that the DFmean is of similar magnitude; 4.0 % and
4.2% within the two rooms. Looking at the room area with a daylight factor above
2%, a difference between 54% and 98% is observed in spite of the average daylight
factor being almost equal. Comparing DFmean and DFmedian shows higher
difference for the room with large contrasts (Room 1) compared with Room 2. This
example demonstrates that the DFmedian and the area of the room with a daylight
factor above 2% are more sensitive ways of assessing than the DFmean for
assessing the daylight performance of the rooms. (Iversen, et al., 2013)
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CALCULATION METHODS
Accuracy of daylight calculation
Lighting simulation software has experienced rapid growth in recent years. This is
both due to requirements stipulated Building Regulations of European countries
and guidelines given by LEED, BREEM, etc. and to a wish from developers and
architects to ensure sound lighting qualities of the building. However, it is
important not to forget that the quality and accuracy of simulations can be
influenced by a number of different factors including:
calculation method
sky model
building model
surface properties
user expertise
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RADIOSITY
Radiosity is an algorithm capable of rendering realistic scenes with shadows and
diffuse light. It is an application of the finite element method to solve the rendering
equation for scenes with purely diffuse surfaces, a method initially developed to
study thermal transfer. This method requires the surfaces of the scene to be
subdivided into a mesh of smaller patches. View factors between each pair of
patches are computed, and the illumination of a patch is determined by adding the
contribution of all visible surrounding patches and light sources. This method has
constraints that limit its use for daylighting simulations (diffuse surface, complex
description of the sky) and it should only be used to evaluate a relatively simple
space. (Iversen, et al., 2013)
The simulation programs Relux, DIALux and LightCalc apply radiosity as their
simulation engine.
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RAY TRACING
Ray tracing is a rendering technique based on the calculation of the distribution of
a large number of rays emitted in a scene either from light sources (forward ray
tracing), or a view point (backward ray tracing) (Iversen, et al., 2013). Backward ray
tracing is a faster method than forward ray tracing because it only calculates rays
reaching the view point. On the other hand it is less or not suitable for use in cases
where light sources are hard to find in the scenes, i.e. narrow light well, light pipe.
Ray tracing algorithms support reflection, transmission and refraction properties of
surfaces, which permits the use of complex materials in simulations.
The simulation program Radiance applies ray tracing in its calculation engine.
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PHOTON MAPPING
Photon mapping is a rendering technique that uses bi-directional ray tracing. A first
pass combines forward ray tracing and photon mapping to distribute the light in
the room and cache the luminous flux on surfaces. A second pass consisting of
backward ray tracing from the view point is then used to compute the final image.
This optimized technique permits the simulation of more complex lighting scenes
with accuracy, i.e. light pipe, and is faster than the traditional backward ray tracing.
(Iversen, et al., 2013)
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SKY TYPES
The nature of daylight is extremely varied and yields a wide range of occurring sky
conditions. To this effect, CIE (Commission international de lclairage) has defined
15 normalized skies for use in lighting simulation. In addition to these 15 skies,
some older sky models remain such as the Traditional Overcast Sky which is now
referred to as sky type 16.
The figure below shows the relative difference in luminance levels at different
angular distance between a sky element and the zenith for sky types 1 and 16. The
comparison shows a relative difference above 25% for the sky luminance of the sky
element located close to the horizon (80 degrees), which means that sky type 16
will be brighter, or more luminous, closer to the horizon.
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The model
The quality of the building model used in simulation can significantly influence the
quality and accuracy of daylighting simulations.
Geometry
It is important to ensure that the geometry of rooms and daylight openings is
correctly modelled and that the correct simulation parameters are used. For
example, in most programs when you model window glass you should make sure
that you only have one layer of polygon to represent the glass, since that polygons
material is assigned with the correct transmittance properties of the window pane.
Figure 11 Illustration of a window model with 2 layers of polygon to model the glass (left) and one layer (right)
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External obstruction
It is important to properly represent elements influencing daylight on the site, such
as external obstruction from surrounding buildings, landscape and vegetation. The
effect of external obstruction can be shown by comparing results for the simple
room (without obstruction), and the room with obstruction.
Surface properties
Surface properties such as the material type, reflectance and transmittance values
will influence the way daylight is distributed in the rooms. It is important to ensure
that realistic values are used for the floor, wall and ceiling surfaces, as well as any
other surfaces included in the model. It is also important to ensure that the glass
transmittance is properly defined, and differentiated between openings using
different type of glazing.
Example
In the example below, a scene with realistic surface properties (floor 0.2, wall 0.5,
and ceiling 0.7) is compared with a scene with unrealistic surface properties (floor
0.9, wall 0.9, ceiling 0.9). The results show a difference of 22% between the average
DF values obtained.
Figure 12 Daylight factor results for the rooms with realistic surface properties (left) and unrealistic surface properties (right)
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User expertise
Daylight factor results for the rooms with realistic surface properties (left) and
unrealistic surface properties (right).
In order to ensure valid simulations, it is important for users to have a good control
of the interface and data entry of the simulation software. It is also important to
know the capabilities and limitations of the tools, and to select an appropriate
method based on the complexity of the scene to be evaluated.
A study from 2009 made by researchers at Harvard University investigated how
correctly daylight simulations were performed by student/new users (Galasiu &
Reinhart, 2008). The study showed that typical sources of errors were geometrical
errors, such as omitting the thickness of the wall from the model or that the
material properties were wrong.
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Desktop Radiance
Desktop Radiance is a Windows 95/98/NT software package that integrates the
Radiance Synthetic Imaging System with AutoCAD Release 14. Desktop Radiance
includes libraries of materials, glazings, luminaires and furnishings so you can
quickly create realistic lighting models. The goal is to provide a design tool
integrated with popular CAD packages to facilitate the consideration of energy
efficient lighting and daylighting strategies in building design. The development of
Desktop Radiance stopped in 2002. Desktop Radiance is included in this report
since reference is made to Desktop Radiance for the users of Autodesk Ecotect. It
is recommended to download the newest version of Radiance to Windows, as the
calculation engine is updated and will be updated continuously. (Iversen, et al.,
2013)
Useful link: http://radsite.lbl.gov/deskrad
IESve
In IESve, it is possible to build a geometric model and simulate daylight conditions
within this model.
IES have been using Radiance over a wide range of commercial projects for many
years and to facilitate this work IES have integrated Radiance into the <Virtual
Environment>. The latest version of this integration RadianceIES provides users
with even greater ease of use through its customised Graphical User Interface
(known as the <Virtual Environment> Framework), which integrates with all the IES
software packages (SunCast, Apache, etc.).
Useful link: http://www.iesve.com/
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DIALux
DIALux can calculate electric light, daylight and the energy performance of electric
light. The program is oriented towards the European market, and is widely used for
calculation of indoor and outdoor electric lighting systems. It follows different
national standard lighting calculations, and can import photometric databases
directly from manufacturers. The daylight calculation capabilities within DIALux
make use of German standard DIN 5043 and CIE Publication 110. Geometric input
is limited to certain shapes. Sky choices are somewhat limited but acceptable for
diverse ranges of weather conditions. There is an external radiosity and ray-tracing
model, POV-Ray (Persistence of Vision 2010). It is used to produce images from
calculation results and for presentation renderings.
Useful link: http://dial.de/
Relux
Relux is oriented towards the European market and the program can calculate
electric light, daylight, and the energy performance of electric light. The program
can import photometrical databases from manufacturers. Relux applies both
radiosity and ray tracing in its simulation engine. It is up to the user to decide what
calculation engine to apply for simulation. Useful link: http://www.relux.biz/
Ecotect
Autodesk Ecotect Analysis sustainable design analysis software is a
comprehensive concept-to-detail sustainable building design tool. Ecotect Analysis
offers a wide range of simulation and building energy analysis functionality that can
improve performance of existing buildings and new building designs. These
simulations and analysis include energy performance of buildings, thermal
simulations, solar radiation, daylight levels and shadow diagrams.
Useful link: http://usa.autodesk.com/ecotect-analysis/
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LightCalc
LightCalc is a freely available open-source tool for electric and artificial light
simulations. LightCalc has its own calculation engine, based on forward ray tracing
and radiosity. The light from the sky and other light sources are included in the
simulations through forward ray tracing. Radiosity is applied to calculate the
internal inter-reflected contribution.
The program relies on input from the user and has a short calculation time. Through
iDBuild, it is possible to couple light simulations from LightCalc directly to hourly
thermal calculations. LightCalc is limited to calculation of one single room.
Useful link: http://idbuild.dk/
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Bibliography
Attiaa, S., Hensenb, J. L., Beltrnc , L. & Herdea , A. D., 2012. Selection Criteria for
Building Performance Simulation Tools: Contrasting Architects and Engineers
Needs. Journal of building performance simulation, 5(3), pp. 155-169.
Cauwerts, C., 2010. Calculation and Design Methods. [Online]
Available at: www.educate-sustainability.eu/portal/print/1871
[Accessed 25 NOVEMBER 2015].
Galasiu, A. D. & Reinhart, C., 2008. Current Daylighting Design Practice: A Survey.
Building Research & Information, 36(2), pp. 159-174.
Iversen, A. et al., 2013. Daylight calculations in practice , Copenhagen : Danish
Building Research Institute, Aalborg Universit.
Panitz, K., Hansen, G. & Ruth, V., 2013. Daylighting Design and Simulation: Ease of
use analysis of digital tools for architects, Brisbane: CIB World Building Congress
2013-Construction and Society.
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