A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings
Visual quality is an important component of indoor environment quality and greatly affects inhabitants’ perception of the living space. Nevertheless, the lighting design of residential buildings is usually underestimated by both designers and standards. This paper presents an integrated in...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/8/1579 |
| _version_ | 1811212508359294976 |
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| author | Stefano Zanon Nicola Callegaro Rossano Albatici |
| author_facet | Stefano Zanon Nicola Callegaro Rossano Albatici |
| author_sort | Stefano Zanon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Visual quality is an important component of indoor environment quality and greatly affects inhabitants’ perception of the living space. Nevertheless, the lighting design of residential buildings is usually underestimated by both designers and standards. This paper presents an integrated index for evaluating the visual quality of an indoor environment in residential buildings. The main parameters considered are daylight access, probability of glare from daylight and electric illumination, maintained illuminance, and color temperature. These aspects are evaluated throughout a whole year using a fixed set of metrics and are combined using relative weights. It was decided to also consider qualitative parameters in order to give more importance to some psychological aspects of visual comfort. Finally, the building visual quality index is obtained by a weighted average of the results of each room with the addition of the qualitative parameters. The applicability of the index was tested through the simulation of a dwelling that will be built and monitored in the context of the Comfort for Sustainable Buildings in the Alps (CASA) research project. The building visual quality index proved to be useful during the design process, allowing for improvements in both electric illumination and daylight access through a comparison of different solutions. This study could represent a step towards the holistic evaluation of indoor environment quality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T05:29:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13c16e68d9864b9cb83fc916b090ac34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T05:29:46Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-13c16e68d9864b9cb83fc916b090ac342022-12-22T03:46:06ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172019-04-0198157910.3390/app9081579app9081579A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential BuildingsStefano Zanon0Nicola Callegaro1Rossano Albatici2Department of Civil Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, ItalyDepartment of Civil Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, ItalyDepartment of Civil Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, ItalyVisual quality is an important component of indoor environment quality and greatly affects inhabitants’ perception of the living space. Nevertheless, the lighting design of residential buildings is usually underestimated by both designers and standards. This paper presents an integrated index for evaluating the visual quality of an indoor environment in residential buildings. The main parameters considered are daylight access, probability of glare from daylight and electric illumination, maintained illuminance, and color temperature. These aspects are evaluated throughout a whole year using a fixed set of metrics and are combined using relative weights. It was decided to also consider qualitative parameters in order to give more importance to some psychological aspects of visual comfort. Finally, the building visual quality index is obtained by a weighted average of the results of each room with the addition of the qualitative parameters. The applicability of the index was tested through the simulation of a dwelling that will be built and monitored in the context of the Comfort for Sustainable Buildings in the Alps (CASA) research project. The building visual quality index proved to be useful during the design process, allowing for improvements in both electric illumination and daylight access through a comparison of different solutions. This study could represent a step towards the holistic evaluation of indoor environment quality.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/8/1579visual comfortvisual quality assessmentresidential buildingsclassification indexbuilding performance simulation |
| spellingShingle | Stefano Zanon Nicola Callegaro Rossano Albatici A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings Applied Sciences visual comfort visual quality assessment residential buildings classification index building performance simulation |
| title | A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings |
| title_full | A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings |
| title_fullStr | A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings |
| title_short | A Novel Approach for the Definition of an Integrated Visual Quality Index for Residential Buildings |
| title_sort | novel approach for the definition of an integrated visual quality index for residential buildings |
| topic | visual comfort visual quality assessment residential buildings classification index building performance simulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/8/1579 |
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