Over the last four decades, our team has been extensively involved in conceptualizing daylighting systems for buildings, measuring illuminance and luminance distributions in daylit spaces, assessing visual comfort in daylit spaces, and assessing the energy implications of using natural light to illuminate buildings interiors.
This proposal is to substantially extend our research into the areas of human perception and health, with an emphasis on the impact of urban density on access to daylight and views. The project aims to establish an interdisciplinary team and state-of-the-art facilities having the capability to assess advanced building glazing technologies in terms of light quantity, visual acuity, visual comfort, spatial perception, sense of well-being, and other health issues. The human factors associated with natural light can only be properly assessed experimentally, i.e., by allowing human beings to occupy, contemplate, and assess the luminous environment.
A full-scale, experimental module will be constructed as the primary assessment tool. The module will be rotated by an electric, motor-drive system. Rotating the experimental module allows all solar angles that would occur over the course of a year to be examined over the course of one sunny summer morning or sunny summer afternoon. This will greatly accelerate the research. It will also make it possible to simulate many solar conditions for short-term visitors to the research facility.
While the focus of this research will be on user response, an important aspect of experimentation is providing sufficient instrumentation to effectively characterize the luminous environment in which the occupant is immersed. Substantial instrumentation and computer simulation methods already in the possession of North Carolina State University will be dedicated to this facility. This will include: sixty scientific grade photometers, a luminance meter, photography for visual documentation, calibrated HDR photography for mapping luminance distributions, and data acquisition systems for interior measurements and documentation.
The experimental module will be located adjacent to an extensive, existing daylight and weather monitoring station that include numerous photometers, pyranometers, pyrheliometers, wind speed and direction sensors, thermal sensors, and a state-of-the-art sky luminance mapper.
The outcomes of this research will provide an enhanced understanding of advanced glazing systems, attract future research funding from the glazing industries, and demonstrate the cutting-edge technologies to architectural and engineering students, professionals, and researchers. It represents an opportunity to “kick the tires” for people who would otherwise not be able to make first-hand assessments of the technology and the spatial and light conditions that the technology can produce.
The interdisciplinary nature of the project is reflected in the team composition, involving researchers in architectural lighting, building energy, human psychology, and occupant health, with advice and oversight from very successful design architects and engineers. The proposed experimental module will be the crossroads of this interdisciplinary work, not only providing a test bed for acquiring data by sensors, but also serving as a real-world venue where users can be immersed in the luminous surroundings.
