4.430
Daylighting
Instructor: Marilyne Andersen
Office: 5-419
Telephone: 617-253-7714
mand@mit.edu
Units: 3-0-6
Level: H
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor
This course aims at providing the tools necessary for an efficient integration of daylighting issues in the overall design process of a building. Through an optimized use of daylight in buildings and an adequate combination with artificial (electric) lighting, a building's environmental impact can be reduced significantly while improving the well-being and visual comfort of the inhabitants.
Fundamentals of daylighting and artificial lighting will be introduced and their relevance to design decisions emphasized: the benefits and availability of daylight, the physics of light propagation and solar radiation, photometry and colorimetry (visual perception, photometric quantities, chromatic systems), the sun course, the physics of windows (light and heat transfer, glazing types), visual and thermal comfort, electric lighting and primary daylighting strategies.
More advanced lighting design topics will also be presented and practised, both through a design project and the class lectures and homework assignments, such as advanced lighting design strategies (innovative glazing and shading technologies, advanced control), and design and assessment tools for lighting management (experimental approaches, computer-based design tools).
By getting familiar with the factors and quantities involved in a given (day)lighting situation, students will be able to assess it in different ways (visual assessment, experimental survey, calculations or computer simulations) and to propose advanced (day)lighting strategies to improve it.
Homework assignments will include problem sets and field studies, and one in-class quiz will take place around mid-term. Reading in conjunction with the course will be from selected books on reserve at the library. The design project will be organised in three parts: lighting diagnostic of an existing building, concept for improving the lighting conditions, proposal for an optimized lighting strategy. Each group of students (2-3 per group) will be giving a short presentation of their project and submit a written report at the end of the term. There will be no final exam.
