The Daylight Performance of Central Atrium Building.

ABSTRAK A computer based simulation study was carried out to investigate daylight performance in a hypothetical four-sided atrium building (a typical commercial office). The analysis of the results was carried out in terms of daylight components, i.e. the Direct Component (DC), the Externally Reflected Component (ERC), and the Internally Reflected Component (IRC). By decomposing the daylight distribution into its components, the behavior of the daylight in the atrium space could be determined. The results reveal relatively insignificant contribution of the DC from the sunlight and sky-vault despite the presence of the sun (clear sky condition). This is mainly due to the limited penetration of the DC into the lower floor and the deeper parts of the office spaces. Consequently, various atrium proportions and atrium axis orientations investigated in this study did not significantly modify the overall daylight performance. This suggests that geographical latitude may not have significant effect on the overall daylight performance in an atrium building. The results also reveal a potential energy saving by considering electric lighting as a supplemental system to the daylighting system. Key word: Daylight, atrium space, Doe, SUPERLIT