The impact of aspect ratio of buildings implementing Horizontal light pipe and shading systems on daylight performance

Deep-plan buildings limit daylight use in spaces far from the building perimeter, leading to uneven daylight distribution. Integrating a Horizontal Light Pipe (HLP) as an optical daylighting system, reflective light shelves, and blinds as shading systems can reduce excessive daylight levels at the perimeter area of a building and improve daylight uniformity. Earlier investigations of HLP daylight performance concentrated on fixed building geometries, but few studies focused on the building aspect ratio, one of the design variables of building geometry that greatly influences daylight performance. This study aims to investigate the impact of the aspect ratio of buildings implementing HLP and shading systems on daylight performance. The research method was experimental, using IES-VE simulation as a tool. The daylight factor (DF), uniformity daylight factor (UDF), and useful daylight illuminance (UDI) of various aspect ratios and depths of office buildings implementing HLP and shading systems were analyzed. The results show that increasing the building aspect ratio from 1:1 to 2.1:1 sequentially increased the average DF and UDF values by 18.47% and 17.2%, respectively. Improving the building aspect ratio from 1:1 to 2.1:1 along the east-west axis improved the UDI by 3%, whereas the north-south axis decreased it by 10.2%.

Automated summary

Deep-plan buildings limit daylight use and result in uneven distribution. This study investigated the impact of building aspect ratio and the implementation of Horizontal Light Pipe (HLP) and shading systems on daylight performance. Results showed that increasing the aspect ratio improved the uniformity of daylight.