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Article
Publication date: 11 June 2018

Francesco De Luca, Raimo Simson, Hendrik Voll and Jarek Kurnitski

Electric lighting accounts for a large share of energy consumption in commercial buildings. Utilization of daylight can significantly help to reduce the need for artificial…

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Abstract

Purpose

Electric lighting accounts for a large share of energy consumption in commercial buildings. Utilization of daylight can significantly help to reduce the need for artificial lighting, increase workers productivity, customers’ satisfaction and consequently improve sales. However, excessive use of glazing and absence of lighting controls can contribute greatly to higher energy need for heating and cooling and cause undesired glare effects. Thus, optimizing the size, position and materials of external glazing, with the addition of deflectors and dynamic artificial lighting, can become key aspects in the design of sustainable low energy buildings. The purpose of this paper is to analyze daylight potential and energy performance of a hall-type commercial building, situated in the cold climate of Finland, by utilizing different combinations of skylights, windows and lighting controls.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have used computer simulations to estimate daylight and energy performance of a single floor commercial building in relation to various combinations of skylights and windows with variable glazing materials, light deflectors and zonal lighting controls.

Findings

The results show that electric light energy saving potential ranges from a negligible 1.9 percent to a significant 58.6 percent in the case of glass skylights and wall windows using multi-zone lighting control. Total delivered energy ranges between increase of 1.5 and 21.2 percent in the cases with single zone lighting control and between decrease of 4.5 percent and increase of 4.5 percent in the cases with multi-zone control. The highest decrease in primary energy consumption was 2.2 percent for single zone and 17.6 percent for multi-zone lighting control. The research underlines the significant potential of electric light energy savings using daylighting strategies that, including the control of direct solar access for glare and internal gains, can be more than 50 percent.

Originality/value

This research combines accurate daylight and energy assessment for commercial hall buildings based in cold climate region with multiple design variations. The novelty of this work is the consideration of interior elements, shelves and deflectors, in the calculations. This is made possible through the combined use of validated simulation platforms for detailed annual daylighting and electric lighting calculation (Radiance and Daysim) and energy analysis (IDA-ICE, Equa Simulation AB). This method allows to obtain a reliable assessment of the potential of using natural light sources in buildings.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

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Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Hendrik Voll, Martin Thalfeldt, Francesco De Luca, Jarek Kurnitski and Timo Olesk

The purpose of this paper is to propose a scientific method to evaluate possible urban layouts of a test building integrating building regulations, natural light standard and…

512

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a scientific method to evaluate possible urban layouts of a test building integrating building regulations, natural light standard and energy requirements to achieve nearly zero-energy buildings in Estonia. The integration of building regulations, energy requirements and natural light standards is crucial to evaluate the incidence of the surrounding environment when analyzing the energy performance of buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates the variations of the energy consumption of a model building with different orientations and variable urban surroundings configurations for the latitude of Tallinn. The different urban configurations are due to combinations of the different building requirements of fire safety, daylighting and insolation hours that in Estonia affect the layout of residential districts, thus influencing significantly the potential consumption of buildings. Different layouts of surrounding buildings have been chosen all guaranteeing at different degrees the fulfillment of the building requirements for the test building and energy simulations have been run to find the urban layouts that guarantee best performances.

Findings

The outcomes show that the test building interior temperatures and energy performances vary significantly in the different urban planning configurations and for the different orientations, underlining that is strongly recommended to run always energy simulation of building considering their surrounding environment. The conclusions show the principles to integrate the building regulations to achieve nearly zero-energy districts that significantly can improve life quality in the urban environment.

Originality/value

The paper analyze the energy efficiency of buildings with different features and orientations simulating their possible urban environment layouts given by building regulations, and not isolated or as built in “an open field” like most of the existing literature in the field.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

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