Graphical display for annual climate-based daylight simulation

Due to daylight variability, a design cannot be thoroughly assessed using single-moment simulations, which is why we need dynamic performance metrics like Daylight Autonomy and Useful Daylight Illuminance. Going one step further, the annual variation in performance (condensed to a percentage by DA and UDI) is also valuable information, as is the ability to link this data to spatial visualizations and renderings. The challenge, therefore, is to provide the information necessary to early design decision-making in a manageable form, while retaining both the continuity of annual data. This paper introduces a simplification method based on splitting the year into weather averaged periods, which are simulated using Perez’s ASRC-CIE sky model while sun penetration data is provided at greater resolution. The graphical output, in “Temporal Map” format, is shown to be visually and numerically comparable to reference case maps created using detailed illuminance data generated by Daysim.