Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Anidolic lighting
Summary
Anidolic lighting systems use anidolic optical components to light rooms. Light redirected by these systems does not converge to a focal point or form an image, hence the name (from an, without, and eidolon, image).
Anidolic lighting uses non-imaging mirrors, lenses, and light guides to capture exterior sunlight and direct it deeply into rooms, while also scattering rays to avoid glare. The human eye's response to light is non-linear, so a more even distribution of the same amount of light makes a room appear brighter.
It is most challenging to effectively capture and redistribute light on cloudy, overcast days, when the sunlight is diffuse.
Mirrors are typically parabolic or elliptical mirrors. Lenses are frequently made in multiple sections, like a Fresnel lens. Light guides include light pipes and anidolic ceilings.
Prism lighting
Lens systems use reflection and refraction within optical prisms to redirect daylight. Some forms of prism lighting have been used for centuries, and others are 21st-century.
Deck prisms were set into the upper decks of ships to light the decks below. Pavement lights were set into floors or sidewalks to let light into a basement below. The underside was frequently extended into prisms to direct and spread the light.
Prism tiles were designed to bend sunbeams coming through a window upwards, so that they would reach deeper into a room. They were placed in the upper parts of window frames, where they were called "transom lights".
Daylight redirecting window film (DRF) is a thin, flexible plastic version of the old glass prism tiles. It can be used as a substitute for opaque blinds.
File:Luxfer sidewalk.gif|The basement under a sidewalk daylit with [[vault lights]].
File:Scatter.gif|Single vault light pendant prism, showing [[total internal reflection]]. Multi-prism vault lights were also made.
File:Window with prism tile transom.gif|Transom light. The upper part of the window is made of [[prism tile]]s, so the light passing through them is bent.
File:2angles.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (2)
AR-241: Building technology III
Ce cours traite des divers domaines techniques intervenant dans la conception et la réalisation d'un bâtiment, soit : physique du bâtiment, structures, matériaux, construction et installations techniq
PHYS-118: Building physics
Ce cours traite des principaux phénomènes physiques observables dans le bâtiment et doit permettre à l'étudiant d'acquérir des connaissances de base dans le domaine de la physique du bâtiment.
Related publications (62)
Related people (20)
Related units (4)
Related concepts (1)
Daylighting
Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and reflective surfaces so that direct or indirect sunlight can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is given to daylighting while designing a building when the aim is to maximize visual comfort or to reduce energy use. Energy savings can be achieved from the reduced use of artificial (electric) lighting or from passive solar heating.