CRITICAL REVIEW OF DAYLIGHTING METRICS

FOR RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE

Residential architecture constitutes one of the largest market segments in the construction sector. However, the attention that it is given in the field of daylight performance simulation is surprisingly low. Are existing daylighting metrics, then, well-suited for residential design?

Findings from 79 references are summarized, and a critical review of current climatebased daylighting metrics in the context of residential architecture is provided. It is found that existing workflows often overlook relevant aspects of daylight in residential spaces, such as diurnal and seasonal availability of daylight and access to direct sunlight. The annual, accumulative nature of current metrics fails to highlight these valuable details.

Published as:

• “A critical review of daylighting metrics for residential architecture and a new metric for cold and temperate climates” | Lighting Research & Technology, January 2019 | With Timur Dogan, PhD

(Top left) A comparison of common daylighting metrics, including both supply-based and oversupply-based analyses.

(Left) Daylight autonomy analysis: a breakdown over 12 seasonal and diurnal timebins. All such temporal fluctuations are “lost” when data is presented in an annual, accumulative manner.