A Methodology for Daylighting Optimisation in Academic Libraries: Case Study of EMU Main Library

Nowadays, most of the buildings are designed without considering the sustainability or responding to natural conditions which becomes a noticeable international trend. It is commonly preferable to design building in response to natural light and site potentials as views. This has impacts on the several dimensions as passive solar heating, reduction in electrical consumption and affecting the human health and psychology. As future architects and researchers, it's imperative for us to adapt sustainability measures in architectural design as daylighting to enhance the space quality needed but tactlessly the occurrence of daylighting is not always optimistic as it is anticipated. This research work aims to maximize benefits of daylighting measures of the EMU main library, through optimizing daylight usage by adopting shading strategies and reducing glare negative effects, to create appropriate visual efficiency for various tasks to be performed in the building. A well laid-out and logical methodologies will provide a great backbone of the research, and would allow to build some reliable results. Thus, this research is combining ‘Problem Solving’, ‘Case Study’ and ‘Surveying’ methodologies to obtain some concrete solutions. Firstly, qualitative methodology was used to identify the problem through observation and supported by questionnaire with real library building users. Then, quantitative methodology was adapted by using computer simulations to detect the problem statistically to find sustainable solution for the problems. Daylight is highly recommended to be used, but it is not appropriately being controlled for user to perform their visual tasks and replaced by the artificial lights that highly increase the energy consumption for EMU Main Library to achieve visual comfort, and the required levels of satisfaction. Certain strategies are recommended to be introduced in a way to control excessive daylight and glare effects, throughout daytime and between seasons, to achieve near optimum visual comfort in libraries indoor space. Based on annual analysis results, the study is evaluation criteria rest on universal standards combination and modifications to find proper assessment method for space visual performance. Keywords: Sustainability, Visual Comfort Metrics, Glare, User’s Performance, Daylight Strategies, Daylight Control.