AR40215

Building Energy System and Auditing

Semester-VI, B.Arch

Daylight in Building

Dr. Shankha Pratim Bhattacharya

Associate Professor
Department of Architecture and Regional Planning
IIT Kharagpur
 Introduction
Sun is the source of light. Daylight inside a building is depend upon the amount of exposure to Sun into
the building interior. Direct and indirect sunlight travels through the opening and translucent
fenestration of building during the daytime.

Advantages of Daylight
• Daylight is natural.

• Daylighting minimize the amount of artificial light and reduce electricity costs (15-40%),

• It also lower HVAC load, as electrical lighting produces internal heat to the room.

• Daylight is disinfect the room and hence it is a healthy option.

• Daylighting has a direct impact on well-being, productivity and overall sense of satisfaction.
 Daylighting
Sun is the source of light. Daylight inside a building is depend upon the amount of exposure to Sun into
the building interior. Direct and indirect sunlight travels through the opening and translucent
fenestration of building during the daytime.

Amount of daylight inside building can be depend upon following factors:

• Building Orientation
• Time of day
• Building Shape
• Size and location of opening
• Location of the room
• External Obstruction
• Colour of interior
Daylight Factor

At a certain point, the ratio of the illumination to the simultaneous out-door illumination can be expressed as a
percentage, and known as the Daylight Factor (DF):
𝐸𝑖
𝐷𝐹 = × 100
where 𝐸𝑜
Ei = illumination indoors, at the point of interest
Eo = illumination out-doors from an unobstructed sky hemisphere

Sky Condition Illuminance (Lux)

Brightest Sunlight 1,00,000 - 1,20,000
Midday Blue Sky 20,000 – 40,000
Typical Overcast Day 1,000 – 2,000
Clear Day at Sunrise or Sunset 300 – 400
Extreme Overcast with clouds 100 - 200

In case of normal calculation, we can assume EO as 6000 – 8000 Lux

Following three components will contribute to the daylight factor:
1. Sky Component (SC)
Sky
2. Externally Reflected Component (ERC)
3. Internally Reflected Component (IRC)

SC
So, the Ei of Daylight Factor can be
calculates adding SC, ERC and IRC IRC
ERC

The daylight factor can be improved by increasing SC, ERC & IRC

Sky Component (SC)

Increasing window aperture to have more portion of sky visible from the given interior point.
Externally Reflected Component (ERC)
Placing surrounding horizontal and vertical surfaces (pavement, building wall) purely light reflective
Internally Reflected Component (IRC)
Light colour building interior
Calculation of Daylight Factor

Daylight at a particular point in the interior can be calculated by the following formula:

𝐴𝑤 × 𝑡 × 𝜃
𝐷𝐹 =
𝐴𝑆 × 1 − 𝑅2
Where,
Aw = The area of the particular opening / window for daylight calculation
t = Visible Light Transmittance of opening / window
θ = Visible sky angle from mid point of window
AS = The total surface area of the room
R = Average surface reflectance

0-2% DF is inadequately light and so electric lighting is required

2-5% DF is adequately light, but electric lighting may be required during some of the time
>5% DF is a well-lit space and electric lighting should not be required. Glare may be an issue.
Visible Light Transmission
Visible transmittance (VT) or Visible Light Transmission (VLT) is a fraction of the Type of Glass VLT
visible spectrum of sunlight (380 to 720 nanometers), that is transmitted through Very Light Tint 80 - 100%
the glazing of a window. A material with a higher VT transmits more visible light. Light Tint 43 - 80%
COLOR LRV Medium Tint 18 - 43%
White 70 - 90% Dark Tint 8 - 18%
Ivory and Cream 55 - 71% Very Dark Tint 3 - 18%
Light Yellow 65 - 70%
Light Reflectance Value
Light Buff 40 - 56%
Light reflectance value (LRV) is defined as the total quantity of visible and useable
Light Green 40 - 50%
light reflected by a surface in all directions. The LRV is given on a scale from 0% to
Medium Green 15 - 30%
100%. Zero represents the ideal absolute black and 100% the ideal perfectly
Orange 15 - 30% reflective white.
Medium Blue 15 - 20%

Dark Blue 5 - 10%

Medium gray 15 - 30%

Red and Maroon 5 - 18%

Medium and Dark Brown 3 - 18%

Black 1 - 4%
 Visible Sky Angle from mid point of window

θ
θ
 Daylight Autonomy (DA)

Daylight Autonomy (DA) is represented as a percentage of annual daytime hours that a given point in a space is above a
specified illumination level.
DA300 → Percentage of Hours in a year of certain point is equal to or above 300 Lux

Calculate the hourly (During the day light duration) Illumination

level at the point for 365 Days in a year.

For DA300 count the number of hours that the illumination at

point equal to or above 300 Lux

Use the formula below to calculate DA300

𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ≥ 300𝐿𝑢𝑥

𝐷𝐴300 = × 100%
Source: https://www.iesve.com/discoveries/article/3813/ten-key-daylight-and-electric-metrics
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
 Concept of Daylight Autonomy (DA)

10 40 60 80 80 60 40 10 40 60 80 80 80 80 60 40

20 50 70 80 80 70 50 20 40 70 80 80 80 80 70 40

30 50 60 70 70 60 50 30 40 60 70 70 70 70 60 40

20 40 50 60 60 50 40 20 30 50 60 60 60 60 50 30

10 30 40 50 50 40 30 10 30 40 50 50 50 50 30
40
 Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI)

Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) is a modification of Daylight Autonomy conceived by Mardaljevic and Nabil in 2005.

This metric bins hourly time values based upon three illumination ranges, 0-100 lux, 100-2000 lux, and over 2000 lux.

It provides full credit only to values between 100 lux and 2,000 lux suggesting that horizontal illumination values
outside of this range are not useful.

Further four UDI ranges are defined:

Insufficient UDI (e.g. below 100 lux) lighting levels that are considered insufficient without electric lighting.

Supplementary UDI (e.g. 100 lux – 500 lux) acceptable daylight levels to be integrated with electric lighting.

Autonomous UDI (e.g. 500 lux – 2,500 lux) acceptable daylight levels. Electric lighting would not be needed for the
majority of the day. Predominantly day lit space during occupied periods and glare is controlled.

Exceedance UDI (e.g. above 2,500 lux) represents excessive amounts of daylight and a source of glare. This creates an
expectation that blinds would be required.
Source: https://www.iesve.com/discoveries/article/3813/ten-key-daylight-and-electric-metrics
UDI Criteria as per ECBC

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND REGIONAL PLANNING,

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KHARAGPUR
Explanation of UDI Criteria as per ECBC

Educational / Business
Total Number of Floor Grid = 40

ECBC→40% (16 Grids)

ECBC+→50% (20 Grids) 100 – 2000 Lux 90% Autonomy

Super-ECBC→60% (24 Grids)

 Uniformity Ratio

It is the ratio of minimum illuminance to average illuminance (EMIN/EAVE).

For side-lit rooms, uniformity should be in the range of 0.3 – 0.4.
For top-lit spaces such as an atrium, a uniformity of 0.7 could be expected.

Brightest Part, Maximum Illumination 1500 Lux, No. of Grid = 06

Medium Part, Maximum Illumination 900 Lux, No of Grid = 26

Darkest Part, Maximum Illumination 300 Lux, No. of Grid = 08

(1500 × 6) + 900 × 26 + (300 × 8)

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐼𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = = 870𝐿𝑢𝑥
40

𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛 300
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = = = 0.34
𝐸𝐴𝑣𝑔 870
Source: https://www.iesve.com/discoveries/article/3813/ten-key-daylight-and-electric-metrics
 Rule of Thumb to Design for Daylight
𝐴𝑓
𝐴𝑔 = 𝐷𝐹 ×
0.2 × 𝑇𝑔
Ag = Area of Glazing / Window
DF = Required average Daylight Factor
Af = Area of Floor
Tg = Visual Light Transmissibility (VLT) of glass

Example:
Find the area of a window for a room dimension 4m X 6m with glass having VLT = 0.45. The design
Daylight Factor is 2.0.

Solution:
Ag = Area of Glazing / Window = ?
𝐴𝑓 24
DF = Required average Daylight Factor = 0.02 (for 2.0) 𝐴𝑔 = 𝐷𝐹 × = 0.02 ×
Af = Area of Floor = 24 Sqmt 0.2 × 𝑇𝑔 0.2 × 0.45
Tg = Visual Light Transmissibility (VLT) of glass = 0.45 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝐺𝑙𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝟓. 𝟑𝟑 𝐦𝟐
The Area 20 Rule

The Window area ≅ 20% of the Floor Area

W1

Floor Area: Af W2

Area of (W1 + W2) = 0.2XAf

The 2H Rule

Top of the Opening

H H

2H
2H
The 1-meter Rule

Window
1m Opening 1m

2H Daylight Area
 Thumb Rule for UDI Calculation as per ECBC

Total Area (Number of Grid) = 12 X 8 = 96 m2

W=3m, H=1.5m W=2m, H=1.5m Window1(3mX1.5m)

Day Lit Area = (1+3+1)X(1.5X2) = 5X3 = 15 m2

Window2(2mX1.5m)
Day Lit Area = (1+2+1)X(1.5X2) = 4X3 = 12 m2

Window3(4mX2m)
W=4m, H=2m

Day Lit Area = (1+4+1)X(2X2) = 6X4 = 24 m2

12m
Total Day Lit Area = 42 m2
Considering Overlapping Area)

Percentage Day Lit Area = (42/96)X100 = 43.75%

8m
 Thumb Rule for UDI Calculation as per ECBC

Total Area (Number of Grid) = 12 X 8 = 96 m2

W=3m, H=1.5m W=2m, H=1.5m Window1(3mX1.5m)

Day Lit Area = (1+3+1)X(1.5X2) = 5X3 = 15 m2

Window2(2mX1.5m)
Day Lit Area = (1+2+1)X(1.5X2) = 4X3 = 12 m2

Window3(4mX2m)
W=4m, H=2m

Day Lit Area = (1+4+1)X(2X2) = 6X4 = 24 m2

12m
X X
Total Day Lit Area = 42 m2 36 m2
X X Considering Overlapping Area)
X X
Percentage Day Lit Area = (42/96)X100 = 43.75%
(36/96)X100 = 37.5%
8m
 References

1. Electrical and Mechanical Services in High Rise Buildings, by A. K. Mittal

2. Handbook of Designing and Installation of Services in High Rise Buildings, by V. K. Jain
3. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings, by Walter T. Grondzik, Alison G. Kwok, Benjamin Stein, John S. Reynolds
4. National Building Code of India (2016)
5. Handbook on Functional Requirements of Buildings
6. ECBC-2017

Thank You