Natural light: how its reflections contribute to the built environment

Abstract

This article tackles the impact of internal reflections in day-lit built environments. This study shows how the inner space geometry, surface properties, openings percentage, position and distribution affect the values and distribution attributed to the internally reflected component. Such knowledge enables us to establish parameters and relations among the above variables so as to fill a gap in the existing biography. The simplified methods provided and used by existing legislation to assess the day-lit environment do not take into account light's basic components, which affect the internal spaces. Therefore, this fact has a negative influence on the prediction of light's behavior. Daylighting contribution in an environment depends directly on the sky component, on the light reflected on external surfaces, and also on the light reflected on internal surfaces among other aspects; this knowledge is crucial for a good understanding of the day-lit environment. The findings of this study should enable the manipulation of variable values and parameters, which affect the reflected light in order to ensure both the quantity and mainly the quality of the day-lit environment.