Improving Daylighting in Existing Buildings: Characterizing the Effect of Anidolic Systems

Because of the longevity of the built environment, it is important not only to study methods of daylighting in new buildings, but to consider daylighting in existing buildings as well. Technologies exist which could benefit these buildings, but predicting the impact of these technologies on a daylit space remains difficult, and the highly computational modeling process probably discourages many people from even considering such devices. The aim of this study, therefore, is to produce an intuitive set of guidelines and recommendations for the applicability of a certain daylighting technology to a given space. The device on which this study focuses is the zenithal anidolic collector, and data is gathered using the software RADIANCE.