Effect of Solar Control Design on Visual Comfort and Daylight Performance: Office Buildings

This study aims to examine the effects of solar control design in architecture on daylight performance and visual comfort conditions. Office buildings are among the building typologies where daylight use is extremely important in terms of visual comfort and energy efficiency in lighting. Various solar control strategies are used in buildings with the aim of controlling solar radiation. Within the scope of this study, various solar control strategies were developed for a sample office volume in Istanbul and the obtained options were evaluated in terms of visual comfort and daylight performance. The scenarios examined to determine the daylight performance of the solar control strategies designed for the space under consideration were modeled through an accredited lighting simulation program and the ‘Useful Daylight Illuminance’ (UDI) method, which is a method developed for office buildings with the aim of daylight performance evaluation, was used in the study. The standard “Light and Lighting - Illumination of Workplaces - Part 1: Indoor Workspaces” was taken into consideration for the necessary criterion regarding the targeted illuminance level for office spaces. The results obtained in the study reveal the effect of the use of solar control elements in office buildings on daylight performance and visual comfort conditions.