Daylight dynamics to guide early stage design: a user-driven goal-based approach to “good” lighting

More and more refined methods are currently being developed that aim to inform designers about daylighting management in a comprehensive way, many of which try to investigate annual daylighting potential through climate-based modeling. In this paper, we propose to address the issue of dealing with very different quantities all relevant to ‘good’ daylighting performance (illumination potential, glare risks, aesthetics, physiological effects of light) by resorting to a goal-based approach, so that such quantities or metrics can all be evaluated on a relative basis within a single simulation framework and a unique, intuitive and visual format. Specifically, the paper proposes to build upon the goal-based approach adopted by the Lightsolve simulation framework to bring together physical, physiological and perceptual aspects of light around the temporal variability of their effects. A prototype interface is presented that proposes an interactive, highly visual simulation environment in which to integrate these goal-based concepts. The paper also describes the premices of an expert system aiming to guide the user towards improved design solutions. The objective is to support early stage design regarding both conventional aspects of daylight performance such as workplane illuminance, glare and associated solar gains, and unconventional ones such as perceptual or non-visual effects of daylight, all considered in combination within a unified framework of analysis.