Daylight And View Quality In Offices: Developing Multifactor Evolutionary Simulation Methods to Achieve Occupant Well-Being: A Case Study of Commercial Buildings in Cairo (Egypt) and Salford (England)

Abdelrahman, Mohamed

Abstract

Viewing the natural environment from inside homes and workplaces has been recognised by a range of scholars as having an impact on improving health and well-being. Research has shown that a combination of outdoor elements – such as blue sky, sea view and greenery – is highly preferred as these elements are therapeutic for human wellbeing. However, installing shading systems is an important strategy for passive building cooling but it could affect our sense of connection to the outside environment. Most researchers evaluate view quality using qualitative questionnaires or quantitative methods by analyzing the geometry outside using 2D and 3D software which needs the outdoor environment to be fully built in the simulation accurately takes more time and may cause a system crash to run. This research presents a new multifactor system called (DVS) to quantify the visible outside view (VOV) by analyzing the outside view image by converting the view content into red, blue, and green (RGB) pixels using image processing technique. VOV measures the occupant's ray tracking percentage to the visible outside view content taking into consideration the blind factor of shading and daylight quality. An indicator starting from 0 % to 100 % is given to quantify the outside view content including shading systems which then the overall VOV is related to the visible outside view quality as a factor of well-being potential (WP). The DVS multifactor system was validated by conducting a virtual reality experiment to investigate the system results. The simulation outcomes were visualised on a comfort and well-being map showing the quantitative measurements for the new visible outside view (VOV) daylight metrics and daylight quality simulation. The study found that the shading strategy should not be the same at all levels and shading devices in primary design stages considering the view to the natural elements positively affects occupants' wellbeing potential. These findings suggest that the proposed algorithm needs to be implemented with building energy and daylight simulation to produce more holistic systems. This will be the only way to get efficient and sustainable buildings highly connected with the human dimension.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Dec 5, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2025
• Keywords: Daylight, View quality, Optimisation, Shading systems
• Citations for Published Sections: Abdelrahman, M.(2024). Daylight And View- Quality In Offices Developing Multifactor Evolutionary Simulation Methods to Achieve Occupant Well-Being: A Case Study of Commercial Buildings in Cairo (Egypt) and Salford (England). (Thesis). University of Salfor
• Award Date: Jan 23, 2025