Achieving the Principles of High Performance of Light Shelves Design in Educational Buildings

Given the current energy crisis, daylight gained considerable momentum in architectural designs. Apart from energy efficiency considerations, the importance of using daylight in educational spaces is due to the pivotal role of light in visual perception of students and quality of educational spaces. This article addressed light shelves as window attachments with effective role in desirably lighting a classroom. Given the function of light shelves in clear and sunny climates and high number of educational centers in Tehran, this geographic area was selected to be investigated.

This research was founded on data from previous studies to determine the suitable depth of interior and exterior light shelves for window day lighting in this city. In this quantitative study, six types of light shelves with different layouts and heights from the floor were defined, and Diva for Rhino was used for simulation. These six light shelf layouts were analyzed by this software to determine the best one for providing the optimum day lighting. Performance of the light shelves was tested through simulation and their effects on the amount of light in a simulated classroom were examined. 

Results showed that all six light shelf layouts made the level of illumination bounce up and reduced energy consumption. Since the south side receives the most sunlight, south-facing light shelves are more efficient.

 Discussion and Conclusion

According to software simulations, the best results in terms of even illumination and glare reduction are achieved by using intermediate light shelves positioned 240 cm away from the floor (Type 1).