Ideal toplighting glazing area for daylighting quality and energy saving in buildings

Abstract EN

Careful design and selection of daylighting systems can greatly help in reducing not only artificial lighting use, but also decrease cooling energy consumption and, therefore, potential for downsizing air-conditioning systems.

This paper aims to evaluate the energy performance of two types of top-light daylighting systems due to the integration of daylight together with artificial lighting in an existing examination hall in University Kebangsaan Malaysia, based on a hot and humid climate.

Computer simulation models have been created for building case study (base case) and the two types of top-light daylighting designs for building energy performance evaluation using the VisualDOE 4.0 building energy simulation program.

The finding revealed that daylighting through top-light systems is a very beneficial design strategy in reducing annual lighting energy consumption and the overall total annual energy consumption.

The results from this study also provides architects, designers and researchers with useful information and better understanding of the application of daylighting in academic buildings in a hot and humid climate, and will promote effective daylighting designs for energy efficiency for similar facilities located in similar climates