Simple correlations between point daylight factor, average daylight factor and vertical daylight factor under all sky conditions and building design implications

Abstract

The customary method for calculating daylight illuminance in a building is the daylight factor approach, which is assumed under the conventional overcast sky. However, such an approach is not flexible enough to predict diffuse illuminance in the presence of non-overcast skies. The daylight factor is invariant to building orientation and cannot take realistic and time-varying climatic conditions into account. Daylight in buildings is estimated using computer simulation techniques. However, full-scale computer simulations can be costly and time-consuming. Practitioners welcome simple calculation aids established via comprehensive analysis. Such easy tools would give building professionals and students basic and concise insight into the independency of different daylight parameters. Recently, daylight factor calculations have been extended to non-overcast skies. It means that the daylight factor approach can be a dynamic metric. This paper presents the calculation of the point daylight factor, the average daylight factor and the vertical daylight factor under all sky conditions, as well as building façade design implications. The performance of the three types of daylight factor for a typical room at various scattering angles is elaborated and evaluated; simple correlations between them are developed.