Investigating daylight quality using self-shading strategy in energy commission building in Malaysia

Abstract

There are a lot of office buildings without strategies for daylight utilization. Different strategies are suggested for better use of daylight. Self-shading strategy has been suggested to eliminate direct solar radiation to minimise energy use for cooling in offices but, the amount of daylight penetrating into the building can be reduced. In this research, the effectiveness of self-shading strategy on daylight is investigated through experimental method. Daylight parameters are measured in two individual office rooms in Energy Commission Building as a model of self-shading buildings. The objective is to investigate daylight quality in individual office room based on different criteria such as work plane illuminance, relative daylight ratio, surface luminance have been compared with recommended values. Finding of this research demonstrates that by employing self-shading strategy, the amount of daylight that enters the space could reduce but by applying other strategies like light shelves and venetian blinds, with self-shading strategy, acceptable performance in terms of daylight quality can be achieved. These strategies can be employed for future design of office buildings to reduce energy consumption for lighting as well as to comply with the goal of sustainable architecture. © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav.