Evaluation on Daylighting Performance of Integrated Light Diffuser Material and Shading System for Office Façade in Tropical Climate

Abstract

Daylighting is a passive design approach in architecture. It is abundant, free and has no negative environmental impact in tropical countries. It has a positive physiological and psychological effect on males, in addition to excellent colour rendering. Despite its broad availability and advantages, daylighting is often underutilized, particularly in the tropics. This study aims to see how light diffuser material and shading devices affect Malaysia's daylighting system. The investigation was carried out via the use of VELUX Daylight Visualizer for daylight simulations. From the series of parametric studies, the selected design of external shading devices to undergo comparison on their shading effect. Various variables were also taken into consideration including orientations, dates, & times. The simulation process is pursued in two phases. The first one was the daylight factor simulation under overcast sky condition, in which two out of four models with shading devices were selected based on their daylight factor results for further simulation. In the second phase, two selected models together with the base case model underwent illuminance simulation under intermediate sky condition. The results show that the integration of light diffuser material on shading device can increase the daylighting potential while reducing glare and hotspots. The findings of this study help the designer and architect in their design decision especially in the early design phase in term of daylighting performance.