Sky Conditions for Daylighting

For daylighting purposes, sky conditions are

classified as either overcast, clear, or partly
cloudy. Each classification has
characteristics that influence daylighting
design.
(a) Overcast sky

(b) Clear sky

(c) Partly cloudy sky

Visual comfort
• Visual comfort is how easily we can view tasks.
• More often visual comfort is discussed in the negative terms of discomfort glare, disability
glare and veiling reflections.
• High levels of these three conditions result is visual discomfort and lower productivity.

• Discomfort Glare is the annoyance or pain caused by high luminance in a field of view. The
degree of discomfort glare depends on the size, luminance and number and position of glare
sources. Background luminance is also a factor. The most common causes are windows and
luminaires.

• Disability Glare results from light scattering within the eye, which, in turn, decreases contrast
and reduces visibility. This condition is also called veiling luminance. The most common
example is the glare on glossy magazine pages that makes it difficult, if not impossible to
read. Disability glare can occur with or without discomfort glare and / or veiling reflections.

• Veiling Reflection is the reflection of a large luminance area on a task. This results in a loss of
contrast between the task and the background. Veiling reflections are usually caused by
windows or luminaires placed above or in front of the task.
 Daylight factor (Formula-1)
The daylight factor is defined as :

where
Ei = illuminance due to daylight at a point on the indoors working plane
Eo = simultaneous outdoor illuminance on a horizontal plane from an unobstructed hemisphere of overcast sky

There are three possible paths along which light can reach a point inside a room through glazed windows. They are :
(a) light from the patch of sky visible at the point considered, expressed as the sky component (SC),
(b) light reflected from opposing exterior surfaces and then reached the point, expressed as the externally reflected component
(ERC),
(c) light entering through the window but reaching the point only after reflection from internal surfaces, expressed as the
internally reflected component (IRC).
The sum of the three components gives the daylight factor:
Daylight factor (Formula-2)
Average DF% = (52 x M x W) / A
Where:
A = The sum of the area of all room surfaces (ceiling, floor, walls, doors, windows and roof lights), in m2
M = Correction factor for dirt or ease of cleaning, consisting of:
 1.0 for vertical glazing or
 0.8 for sloping glazing or
 0.7 for horizontal glazing
W = Glazed area of windows or roof lights, taking account of framing, in m2. Measure glazed panes or measure window area
including frames then multiply by:
 0.9 for metal frames (patent glazing) or
 0.8 for metal frames (large pane) or
 0.7 for timber frames (large pane) or
 0.6 for timber frames (smaller pane)
 Some daylight factor recommendations.

Average Minimum daylight

Area
Daylight factor factor

Commercial Buildings:

General office 5% 2%

Classroom 5% 2%

Dwellings:

Kitchen 2%

Living room 1%

Bedroom 0.5%

Average DF Appearance Energy implications

< 2% room looks gloomy Electric lighting needed most of the day

Predominantly daylit appearance, but
2% to 5%
supplementary artificial lighting is needed.
> 5% Room appears strongly daylit
Good balance between lighting and thermal
aspects
Daytime electric lighting rarely needed, but
potential for thermal problems due to
overheating in summer and heat losses in
winter
Example 1 (Formula-1)
Calculate the illuminance at a point in a room given the daylight factor of 5% if
the external illuminance is 9500 lux.
Therefore:
Internal illuminance = ( Daylight factor x External illuminance ) / 100%
Internal illuminance = ( 5 x 9500 ) / 100%
Internal illuminance = 475 lux

Example 2 (Formula-2)
Calculate the Daylight Factor in a Class Room of size 16m x 8m x 4m (H), having 8 no.
of vertical framed glazing of 1.2m x 1.6, average external illuminance is 5000 lux.
DF% = (52 x M x W) / A
M = 1 (gazing is vertical)
W = 1.2 x 1.6 x 8 x 0.9 (Framed) = 13.824 Sq.M
A = Floor Area + Ceiling Area + Wall Area = 128+128+ 64+124 = 444 Sq.M
Daylight Factor% = ( 52 x 1 x 13.824 ) / 444
DF = 1.619
Luminous flux is a quantitative expression of the brilliance of a source of visible light, which is electromagnetic
energy within the wavelength range of approximately 390 nanometer s (nm) to 770 nm.

This quantity is measured in terms of the power emitted per unit solid angle from an isotropic radiator, a theoretical
point source that radiates equally in all directions in three-dimensional space.

The standard unit of luminous flux is the lumen (lm). Reduced to base units in the International System of Units (SI),
1 lm is equivalent to 1 candela steradian (cd · sr).

This is the same as 1.46 milliwatt (1.46 x 10 -3 W) of radiant power at a wavelength of 555 nm, which lies in the
middle of the visible spectrum.

This concept is shown in the

figure for 1 m radius of the
sphere. Since the area of sphere
is 4pr² then the luminous flux
of the point light source is 4p
lumens.
 Table of comparative luminous flux of several light sources
Source Luminous flux (lumens)
37 mW "Superbright" white LED 0.20
15 mW green laser (532 nm wavelength) 8.4
1 W high-output white LED 25–120
Kerosene lantern 100
40 W incandescent lamp at 230 volts 325
7 W high-output white LED 450
6 W COB filament LED lamp 600
18 W fluorescent lamp 1250
100 W incandescent lamp 1750
40 W fluorescent lamp 2800
35 W xenon bulb 2200–3200
100 W fluorescent lamp 8000
127 W low pressure sodium vapor lamp 25000
400 W metal-halide lamp 40000

Values are given for newly manufactured sources. The output from many sources decreases significantly over their lifetime.
Lumen Method

The lumen method is applicable to

design of a uniform (general) lighting
scheme in a space where flexibility of
Figure 1 Working Plane
working locations or other activities is
required.

The lumen method is applied only to

square or rectangular rooms with a
regular array luminaires as shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2 Spacing of Luminaires in Lumen Design Method
Lumen Method Calculations
The lumen method is based on fundamental lighting calculations. The lumen method formula is easiest to
appreciate in the following form.

Where
E = average illuminance over the horizontal working plane
n = number of lamps in each luminaire
N = number of luminaire
F = lighting design lumens per lamp, i.e. initial bare lamp luminous flux
UF = utilisation factor for the horizontal working plane
LLF = light loss factor
A = area of the horizontal working plane
Procedures for Lumen Design Method

(a) Calculate the room index.

(b) Determine the effective reflectance of the ceiling cavity, walls and floor cavity.

(c) Determine the utilisation factor from the manufacturer's data sheet, using the room index and effective surface
reflectance as found in (a) and (b) above.

(d) Determine the light loss factor.

(e) Inert the appropriate variables into the lumen method formula to obtain the number of luminaires required.

(f) Determine a suitable layout.

(g) Check that the geometric mean spacing to height ratio of the layout is within the SHR NOM range:

(h) Check that the proposed layout does not exceed the maximum spacing to height ratios (SHR MAX).

(i) Calculate the illuminance that will be achieved by the final layout and check against the standard.