The Visual perception of occupants’ on daylight : emphasis on the diversity of luminance ambience due to architecture & effect of glare in office environments

Abstract

The research investigates the occupant perception of daylight in office buildings in Sri Lanka. Specific focus is drawn to the potential diversity of a luminous ambiance environments, created by daylight and problems associated with glare effect to the visual comfort. The methodology involves an investigationto find the level of occupants‘ perception through a questionnaire survey and analysing the data using the SPSS analytical computer software. In addition, pointed Lux levels in selected areas were measured to find out the activeness of day lighting level using Daylight factor. Simultaneously a photographic survey is used to identify the brighter and darker zones and design intervention of the building designs. According to the data analysis, 97% of responses are found to be less sensitive to day lighting. The results suggest the occupants in investigated office buildings consider daylight as an insignificant component in office environments. Further, it was found that glare; due to extensive difference of lighting level between inside and outside, was an issue to be addressed.