Investigation of the effect of the facade apertures to daylight performance in interior in the residential buildings

Creating a good visual environment in spaces and designing visually pleasing spaces are very important in terms of user health, activity and comfort. So, the effectively use of daylight is the main factor to be considered so as to obtain the optimum visual satisfaction for users and ensure visual comfort conditions in interior spaces. That is also important in regards to minimize lighting energy consumption and costs. It is possible to obtain optimum daylight performance in interiors by taking daylight properly into room. The facades, which form an interface between the interior and the exterior by separating the natural and the built environment from each other, allow the daylight to be taken through the openings into the space and the facade openings serve as a lighting device for the interior. Therefore in order to provide the required visual comfort conditions in spaces and to achieve optimum daylight performance, the daylight must be taken into the interior via proper daylight aperture design. In addition to the need for accommodation, residential buildings that are expected to supply today's different requirements are spaces where physiological and psychological comfort conditions are essential to meet the mood of occupants such as rest, relaxation, enjoyment and pleasure. So, ensuring visual comfort defined as the absence of discomfort toward visual stimuli that have the most significant impact on humans is important in residential buildings. Livable areas, which differ in residential buildings in terms of different visual requirements due to different visual acts done together and occupation period, are main spaces within residential buildings where providing visual comfort conditions is essential. On the other hand, the need for housing, which is accompanied by population growth, has led to the construction of numerous residential buildings. It is especially necessary to work on designing facade apertures accurately in order to provide visual comfort in living spaces and to minimize lighting energy consumption. Therefore, the design decision about daylight aperture in the residential buildings differs from other typologies in order to design a proper facade that responds to various needs for visual comfort in interior space. So it is accordingly aimed in this study; to determine the parameters affecting the amount of daylight and visual comfort in the interior of residential buildings by conducting a literature review on daylight and visual comfort, to determine the effect of design decision made about facade design on the daylight performance and visual comfort conditions, to reveal the current situation by analyzing the daylight performance in the living areas and developing suggestions related to the daylight aperture to provide the required visual comfort condition in interior space. On the scope of the intended purposes of this study; in accordance with the needs and social policies of today, social housing units, which make up a large share of housing production in Turkey so that it can meet the poor and low-income families' housing needs via standardized types of plans' schemes, are dealt with. In order that the facade design is examined to ensure the visual comfort condition, the existing facade design of the living spaces is evaluated and the facade design, which gives the optimum daylight performance in space, is determined by creating different facade alternatives oriented apertures. In this respect, various scenarios for facade aperture were generated from window size and window shape parameters, which are some of the variables affecting the indoor daylight performance on the facade apertures. In the study that the effects of the existing facade design in livable area on the daylight performance are revealed, the best design alternative for facade aperture is determined in respect to optimum daylight performance providing visual comfort in interior space. Depending on the created facade design alternatives, the daylight performance that occurs in the living space has been revealed by useful daylight illuminance method based on climate-based daylight modelling. The useful daylight illuminance method has illuminance level range values specially determined for residential spaces. At the same time, the effect of shading devices, which are one of the important components of the facade design are investigated and, the solar control element is designed for facade alternative through which the optimum performance is achieved in terms of visual comfort in the living space examined in residential unit. As this study can be an example for living spaces having similar features, also the best facade alternative for other spaces may change according to typologies, location, climate, obstruction and interior surface properties of buildings that are addressed to. Consequently, this study is aimed to determine the optimization of the window size and window shape which plays a decisive role in the design of the facade aperture in order to ensure visual comfort and to minimize lighting energy consumption for livable areas. It is expected that the data obtained in this study will be instructive for residential buildings that various studies, standards and design guidelines are prepared for.