Disciplines
Interior Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Among the most substantial ways to improve the energy efficiency of a building is to manipulate the floorplate in ways that lets more natural light in while reducing the energy loss or gain through the envelope area. However, creating buildings that have more natural light comes with a greater construction cost due to larger envelope areas. The goal of this research is to determine what aspects of floorplate design maximize the natural light entering a building and minimize the construction costs associated with the building. In the first phase of research last year, we analyzed a sample of floorplates from Richard Weston’s, Key Buildings of the 20th Century from which we determined that the scaling of the building has the greatest impact on the natural lighting entering a given building. In the current phase of research this year, we inquire about the effect of building size on the complex relationship between natural lighting and building compactness linked to cost. First, all the buildings are scaled and brought to the same floorplate size in order to evaluate the effect of building typology on daylighting, while the plot between daylighting and compactness is studied according to body condition index, which is translated from comparative studies in life sciences. The residual of each case to the trendline in the plot is quantified as an index of daylighting, similar to the body condition. In addition, we test the effect of floorplate shape (compactness and fragmentation) on building’s daylighting and efficiency.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CACM - Architecture
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ermal Shpuza
Daylighting in Buildings: Investigating the Relationship between Daylight Levels and Building Compactness in Various Contemporary Architectural Types.
Among the most substantial ways to improve the energy efficiency of a building is to manipulate the floorplate in ways that lets more natural light in while reducing the energy loss or gain through the envelope area. However, creating buildings that have more natural light comes with a greater construction cost due to larger envelope areas. The goal of this research is to determine what aspects of floorplate design maximize the natural light entering a building and minimize the construction costs associated with the building. In the first phase of research last year, we analyzed a sample of floorplates from Richard Weston’s, Key Buildings of the 20th Century from which we determined that the scaling of the building has the greatest impact on the natural lighting entering a given building. In the current phase of research this year, we inquire about the effect of building size on the complex relationship between natural lighting and building compactness linked to cost. First, all the buildings are scaled and brought to the same floorplate size in order to evaluate the effect of building typology on daylighting, while the plot between daylighting and compactness is studied according to body condition index, which is translated from comparative studies in life sciences. The residual of each case to the trendline in the plot is quantified as an index of daylighting, similar to the body condition. In addition, we test the effect of floorplate shape (compactness and fragmentation) on building’s daylighting and efficiency.