A review of indices for assessing visual comfort with a view to their use in optimization processes to support building integrated design

Salvatore Carlucci, Francesco Causone, Francesco De Rosa and Lorenzo Pagliano

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2015, vol. 47, issue C, 1016-1033

Abstract: In the last decades, several studies aimed at assessing some specified aspects of visual comfort characterizing the relationship between the human needs and the light environment, such as an available amount of light, light uniformity, light quality in rendering colors, and predicting the risk of glare for space occupants. For each of them, a (still growing) number of indices and metrics have been proposed in the literature and standards. In the present work, they are described, categorized according to common features, and finally discussed. As in the case of long-term thermal comfort indices, such visual comfort indices and their summation over a specified calculation period might be used for driving optimization processes to support a more conscious integrated design of buildings. To that purpose, the choice among the available visual comfort indices needs to be informed by an analysis of their features and implications. We present recommendations for use, and suggest areas where improvement is needed for their use in optimization processes to support buildings׳ design.

Keywords: Visual comfort; Visual comfort assessment; Visual discomfort indices; Glare; Daylight; Lighting; Objective functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115002154
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:47:y:2015:i:c:p:1016-1033

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.03.062

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().