Engineering > Architecture > Natural Light in Design

Natural Light in Design posted by duggu on 11/30/2007

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Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Course Description

Today, computer-based simulations are becoming increasingly popular, especially when daylighting and energy conservation are amongst the key goals for a project. This two-week workshop will expose participants to the current daylighting simulation models and beyond, by introducing realistic and dynamic assessment methods through hands-on exercises and application to a design project. Open to students and practitioners.

This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

Syllabus

Daylighting, or more generally lighting, is one of the fundamental components of architecture. Not only is it the key element in revealing built volumes and providing a character to a space, it must also adequately respond to our needs for visual comfort and for a healthy environment, and has to be carefully planned to be ecologically viable. Today, computer-based simulations are becoming increasingly popular, especially when daylighting and energy conservation are amongst the key goals for a project. This workshop will introduce participants to using Radiance, Ecotect, and Daysim as a toolset to carry out a state-of-the-art daylighting analysis of buildings. The analysis will combine traditional performance metrics - such as daylight factor and avoidance of direct sunlight - with emerging metrics based on dynamic annual daylight simulations. Two days of formal instruction and hands-on exercises will be followed by a day during which participants will be able to apply the concepts learnt to a design project of their choosing.

Timeline

This workshop will be open to students and practitioners. It will be organized in two parts:

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 24-25: Lectures and hands-on exercises

Tuesday, January 31: Presentations, discussion and feedback on design projects

During the week in-between, each team will apply the learned concepts to a design project of their choosing so as to generate an "added value" from the daylighting/energy consumption standpoint; they will benefit from feedback during that time and present their results on this third day of the workshop.

Registration

The class size will be strictly limited; early applications will receive first consideration. Although bringing a laptop to class is not a requirement for this course, it is highly recommended. Please arrive one hour before class begins in order to install the necessary software.

Calendar

Tuesday, January 24

Course calendar.
Times	Topics
9.30	Welcome, class introduction, design project (teams formed on following morning)
10.00	General introduction to daylighting (benefits, design issues, thermal aspects, built examples)
10.30	Introduction to building simulation (why simulations for architects, tools used in this course)
11.15	Photometry (definition, measurement, typical values, DF definition) Static daylighting metrics (context of LEED, selected results from NRC survey, DF and solar shading) Daylight factor calculations: Sky models CIE and Perez, split-flux method, LEED spreadsheet method Daylight factor simulation: Design sky, split flux method in Ecotect Hands-on exercise: DF calculation in Ecotect (split flux) Hands-on exercise: solar shading module in Ecotect Introduction to Radiance Hands-on exercise: Radiance visualizations Hands-on exercise: DF calculation in Ecotect (Radiance)
14.00	Climate data (Data definition and measurement, energy and weather data directory) Hands-on exercise: Weather tool in Ecotect Overview on visual comfort (glare, contrast, recommendations) Dynamic metrics and related tools
16.00	Hands-on exercise: Daysim exercise from tutorial interrupted by discussions on: Short time steps dynamics Daylight coefficients User behavior model Daylight autonomy results
17.00	Hands-on exercise: Students to repeat DF, solar shading and daylight aautonomy analyses on their own
17:30	End of first day

Wednesday, January 25

Course calendar.
Times	Topics
9.30	Miscellany: Announcements, organization of design project teams
10.00	Hands-on exercises: Review yesterday's content Daylit buildings and technologies (including advanced materials) Introduction to advanced radiance materials, Ecotect's RADTOOL
11.15	Hands-on exercises: Import geometries and materials from other programs (SketchUp, AutoCAD®)
12.15	Specialty topics (to be suggested by participants before the workshop)
14.00	Hands-on exercises: Participants start working on their own models (participants will have the opportunity to discuss their project ideas with the instructors)
16.00	Continue previous activities
17:30	End of second day

Tuesday, January 31

Course calendar.
Times	Topics
9:00	Welcome
9:15	Team 1: Buro Happold project on daylit parking
9:45	Team 2: Façade renovation vs. transformation project on building 26
10:15	Team 3: Payette project on Aga Khan University
11:00	Team 4: Sasaki project on Sacred Heart University
11:30	Team 5: Fanning/Howey project on schools
12:00	Team 6: Design project on greenhouse/patio space
1:00	IES virtual environment demonstration
1:45	Team 7: Design project on hospital patient room
2:15	Team 8: Green roundtable project on Nexus Center
2:45	Team 9: Andelman/Lelek project on simulation tools comparison
3:30	General discussion about projects, workshop and software capabilities
5:30	End of workshop

Readings

The following selection of journal articles were presented to the class for background reading.

Perez, R., R. Seals, and J. Michalsky. "All-weather Model for Sky Luminance Distribution - Preliminary Configuration and Validation." Solar Energy 50, no. 3 (1993): 235-245.

Nabil, A., and J. Mardaljevic. "Useful Daylighting Illuminance: A New Paradigm for Assessing Daylight in Buildings." Lighting Research and Technology 37, no. 1 (2005): 41-59.

Andersen, M. "Generalization of the Direct Sky Component Calculation to Openings of Arbitrary Tilt Angle." Leukos 1, no. 2 (2004): 39-56.

Walknehorst, O., J. Luther, C. Reinhart, and J. Timmer. "Dynamic Annual Daylight Simulations Based on One-hour and One-minute Means of Irradiance Data." Solar Energy 72, no. 5 (2002): 385-395.

Reinhart, C., and S. Herkel. "The Simulation of Annual Daylight Illuminance Distributions - A State-of-the-art Comparison of Six RADIANCE-based Methods." Energy and Buildings 32 (2000): 167-187.

Reinhart, C., and K. Voss. "Monitoring Manual Control of Electric Lighting and Blinds." Lighting Research and Technology 35, no. 3 (2003): 243-260.

Reinhart, C., and O. Walkenhorst. "Validation of Dynamic RADIANCE-based Daylight Simulations for a Test Office with External Blinds." Energy and Buildings 33 (2001): 683-697.

Reinhart, C. "Lightswitch-2002: A Model for Manual and Automated Control of Electric Lighting and Blinds." Solar Energy 77 (2004): 15-28.

Reinhart, C., and M. Andersen. "Development and Validation of a Radiance Model for a Translucent Panel." Energy and Buildings (June 2005). (Draft.)

Andersen, M., D. Ljubicic, C. Browne, S. Kleindienst, and M. Culpepper. "Combining Time-efficient Goniophotometry with Scale Model Studies in a Unique Instrument." (Unpublished draft.)

Andersen, M., L. Michel, C. Roecker, and J-L. Scartezzini. "Combining Time-efficient Goniophotometry with Scale Model Studies in a Unique Instrument." Energy and Buildings 33 (2001): 417-431.

Andersen, M., C. Roecker, and J-L. Scartezzini. "Design of a Time-efficient Video-goniophotometer Combining Bidirectional Functions Assessment for Transmission and Reflection." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 88 (2005): 97-118.

Reinhart, C. "Daylight Availability and Manual Lighting Control in Office Buildings - Simulation Studies and Analysis of Measurements." PhD Thesis, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 2001.

Andersen, M. "Light Distribution through Advanced Fenestration Systems." Building Research and Information 30, no. 4 (2002): 264-281.

———. "Innovative Bidirectional Video-goniophotometer for Advanced Fenestration Systems." PhD Thesis, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 2004.