Daylighting Display Options

This section describes the Display options that are available for showing different reports on the Daylighting results. The main selection to be made is the Report type and the following options are available:

 

 

These options together with their associated Display options are described in more detail below.

1-Map - Daylight Illuminance Distribution

When the Report type Display option is set to 1-Map a contour map showing the daylight distribution across a slice along the working plane of the object is displayed. When at zone level, the map is the only option and it is a daylight distribution map for the zone is displayed if available. An example daylight map for a single zone is shown below.

 

You can see that the zone boundary has a 0.5m margin around it where data is not calculated avoiding use of potentially misleading data close to walls and windows. To calculate the daylight illuminance right up to zone boundaries set the Margin calculation option to 0.

 

When at building and block levels maps of daylight distribution across the working plane of the current object can be displayed. An example daylight distribution map displayed across multiple zones is shown below.

 

 

You can see that each zone boundary has a margin around it.

Clear sky time

If you carried out a LEED v3 calculation then 2 sets of illuminance maps will be calculated and stored, one for 9am and the other for 3pm. You can select which of these to display using the Clear sky time display option.

Scale source

The scale of the daylight illuminance maps can be defined using data from the building, block or zone level or it can be entered manually. It is a way to define the minimum and maximum values on the scale. Select from one of these options.

 

 

Low DF (%)

When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the minimum daylight factor scale value to be displayed.

High DF (%)

When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the maximum daylight factor scale value to be displayed.

Apply scale "too dark" colour

If you wish to draw attention to areas of the working plane that have daylight factor below the entered Low DF (%) value then check this box and define the colour in the colour selector below.

Scale "too dark" colour

Select the colour to be used to represent areas of the working plane that are below the entered Low DF (%) value. Typically a dark grey or black colour might be used. For example the dark grey areas of the images above were generated using this option. They represent areas where the daylight factor is less than 2%.

Apply scale "too bright" colour

If you wish to draw attention to areas of the working plane that have daylight factor above the entered High DF (%) value then check this box and define the colour in the colour selector below.

Scale "too bright" colour

Select the colour to be used to represent areas of the working plane that are above the entered High DF (%) value.

Working plane

When viewing data for a block or building there can be multiple zones and these can have working planes at various heights. DesignBuilder therefore provides a drop list to allow you select which zones zones are to be displayed based on all relevant working planes identified in the current building or block.

Working plane margin

When DesignBuilder calculates which zones to include in the display for a particular working plane selection, it applies a margin which is a sort of tolerance. Any zones having a working plane height above ground within the band of the selected Working plane height +/- Working plane margin will be included in the display. This allows zones that are required to be included with a particular floor illuminance plot but which have slight differences in working plane height, to be displayed together with other zones of similar working plane height.

2-Grid

Available at building and block levels, the 2-Grid Report type displays information on average daylight factors, daylight uniformity and illuminance values for each zone together with a total for the building. The following data is calculated for each zone:

 

 

This option might be useful if the built-in daylight reports don't cover the particular calculation you need to make. In this case you can export the summary data for each zone for further analysis in a spreadsheet.

 

An example grid output is shown below.

 

 

Note all floor areas reported on the Daylighting screen are sum of the grid point areas which will usually be slightly less than the

LEED v2 Credit EQ8.1 Report

A report is generated detailing eligibility for the LEED v2 daylighting credit EQ8.1 based on % area of the occupied part of the building that has better than the minimum daylight factor. The CIE overcast sky (10000 lux) sky model is used. An example LEED daylight report is shown below.

 

LEED v3 Credit EQ8.1 Report

A report is generated detailing eligibility for the LEED v3 daylighting credit EQ8.1 based on % area of the occupied part of the building that has better than the minimum daylight factor. LEED v3 EQ8.1 requires 2 calculations using CIE clear day conditions at 9am and 3pm on 21 September. When the LEED v3 calculation option is selected these calculations are carried out automatically.

 

Note that this report will only be available if the LEED v3 EQ8.1 calculation option was selected, otherwise the calculations will have to be re done using this option.

 

An example LEED v3 daylight report is shown below.

 

BREEAM Credit HEA1

A report detailing eligibility for the BREEAM daylighting credit based on % area of the occupied part of the building that has better than minimum daylight factors plus better than minimum uniformity ratios.

 

Note that if you request the BREEAM HEA1 report you must also select the building type. At the moment the only option is 1-Office.

 

Green Star IEQ4

A report detailing the number of Green Star daylighting credit achieved (a maximum of 3 credits are possible). The calculations are based on % area of the occupied part of the building that has better than minimum daylight factors.