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The performance of machine learning (ML) algorithms depends on the nature of the problem at hand. ML-based modeling, therefore, should employ suitable algorithms where optimum results are desired. The purpose of the current study was to explore the potential applications of ML algorithms in modeling daylight in indoor spaces and ultimately identify the optimum algorithm. We thus developed and compared the performance of four common ML algorithms: generalized linear models, deep neural networks, random forest, and gradient boosting models in predicting the distribution of indoor daylight illuminances. We found that deep neural networks, which showed a determination of coefficient (R2) of 0.99, outperformed the other algorithms. Additionally, we explored the use of long short-term memory to forecast the distribution of daylight at a particular future time. Our results show that long short-term memory is accurate and reliable (R2 = 0.92). Our findings provide a basis for discussions on ML algorithms’ use in modeling daylight in indoor spaces, which may ultimately result in efficient tools for estimating daylight performance in the primary stages of building design and daylight control schemes for energy efficiency.

•Optimized surrounding shades can improve energy savings and visual comfort.•Prefabricated buildings are specifically suitable for warm climate zones.•Proposed hybrid shadings achieved a higher reduction in energy consumption.•The hybrid louvers can replace horizontal, vertical, and egg-crate shadings. Reusing shipping containers for residential purposes offers a promising approach to address global energy consumption challenges from economic and environmental perspectives. This study parametrically designed hybrid louver shadings by combining fixed vertical triangular slats with variable-depth horizontal rectangular slats, offering a novel approach to shading prefabricated buildings. The energy consumption, daylighting performance, and visual comfort were assessed for various shading configurations. Results indicated that implementing the proposed hybrid louvers, featuring fixed vertical triangular slats and variable-depth horizontal rectangular slats, significantly reduced Energy Use Intensity (EUI) to 133.95 kWh/m2. Moreover, Useful daylight illuminance (UDI), Daylight Autonomy (DA), and Glare Autonomy (GA) values improved to 95.38%, 89.97%, and 91.16%, respectively. The study highlighted the potential of the proposed shading system to significantly reduce overall energy consumption across various ASHRAE climate zones, including Miami (1A), Guangzhou (2A), Melbourne (3C), Esperance (3C), San Diego (3A), and Milan (4A). Notably, energy reductions of up to 50.2% were projected for climates such as Miami (1A) and San Diego (3A). Furthermore, container buildings in warm climate zones exhibited a significantly lower EUI range of 76.58 to 91.95 kWh/m². This study underscores the transformative potential of hybrid louver systems in promoting the widespread adoption of sustainable residential architecture, contributing to global sustainability efforts. [Display omitted]

The increasing adoption of highly glazed façades in contemporary office building has improved daylight penetration but has also intensified glare risk and sunlight overexposure in Mediterranean climates, with direct implications for occupant visual comfort and environmental sustainability. While daylight optimization has been widely discussed, fewer studies have examined how façade morphology systematically shapes the balance between daylight sufficiency and visual comfort in Mediterranean island contexts. This study investigates the relationship between façade configuration, daylight availability, and glare performance in office buildings in Northern Cyprus using climate-based daylight simulation. Six façade morphologies are evaluated across a range of window-to-wall ratios (WWR) using EN 17037-aligned criteria and metrics, including spatial daylight autonomy (sDA), annual sunlight exposure (ASE), and daylight glare probability (DGP). Usable daylight is not simply a function of more glass. As WWR increases, fully glazed façades in Mediterranean conditions tend to admit excessive direct sun and intensify glare, so daylight becomes less workable even when illuminance is high. Instead, hybrid and adaptive morphologies that control lighting through a combined approach of shade, diffusion, and redirection provide the most dependable performance, reducing both overexposure and glare while ensuring sufficient daylight sufficiency. The findings also indicate a distinct turning point at about 50–55% WWR, beyond which performance is mostly dependent on the façade’s ability to modulate its morphology and further glass offers minimal advantage. Based on this, the article suggests a contextual framework to encourage façade options for Mediterranean office environments that are more sustainable, aesthetically pleasing, and climate-responsive.

External windows and shading systems significantly influence solar radiation control and natural daylighting in building spaces. This study focuses on west-facing dormitory rooms in universities in Kunming, China—spaces particularly prone to solar overexposure—and proposes a fixed external shading design method optimized for solar heat control and daylighting performance. A parametric modeling and simulation approach was adopted, and Pareto-optimal solutions were generated using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II). Results indicate that a shading configuration with a panel depth of 0.35 m, spacing of 0.27 m, and an upward horizontal tilt of 7° effectively minimizes seasonal fluctuations in solar heat gain while achieving a reasonable trade-off with daylighting. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was further applied to evaluate and rank the multi-objective solutions. Under equal-weight evaluation, a configuration with a depth of 0.4 m, spacing of 0.57 m, and a 3° vertical tilt facing north ranked highest, indicating a strong balance between thermal control and daylight performance.This study focuses on optimizing the geometric parameters of passive fixed shading components, without addressing adjustable or dynamic systems. The findings offer practical design references and parametric guidance for external shading strategies in west-facing dormitories in Kunming and other regions with similar climatic conditions.

Influenced by educational policies and newly emerging educational philosophies, the proportion of public space is expanding in primary and secondary schools in China. Consequently, the atrium in school design is increasingly drawing attention due to the consideration of space efficiency and its accommodability for diverse activities. Although many studies have already explored the daylighting performance of atriums, the particularities of primary and secondary schools are rarely noticed, which leads to the lack of a reliable basis for a quick judgment in the early design stage. This study used the annual daylight metrics of Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA300,50%) and Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE1000,250 h) as the indicators, built a parametric model in Grasshopper, conducted the simulation using the Ladybug–Honeybee plug-in, and separately performed the linear regression analysis on the three groups of data from the different types of atriums. The results show that in Nanjing’s climate, the north and east sides of atriums are the most suitable orientations for classrooms, and a corridor width of 3 m ensures high-quality daylight for the bottom floors. The optimal design equations for atrium width and length are provided for the three types of atriums, respectively, hopefully, to ensure that classrooms surrounding the atrium can reach the requirement of sDA300,50% ≥ 0.75, and the design recommendations are offered based on the results.

It remains challenging to conduct an efficient dynamic façade design. In this article authors try to address this issue introducing the façade daylighting performance improvement (FDPI) indicator aimed to evaluate the performance of a dynamic (adaptive) façade from its daylighting performance point of view. To illustrate the FDPI application the authors introduced the preliminary dynamic façade concept for an office building located in Tel Aviv (Hot-summer Mediterranean Climate Csa) with further shape modification based on the daylighting performance analysis compared to the three alternatives representative of different typologies of dynamic facades. Al Bahr, One Ocean and The University of Southern Denmark façade systems were simulated under the same weather and building conditions of the preliminary dynamic façade concept and were considered as a benchmark for the study. The final dynamic façade concept elaborated by the authors in the preliminary comparative workflow showed noticeable daylight performance improvement with respect to the case studies comparative scenarios. The FDPI metric allowed to estimate a daylighting performance improvement of 43% of the final dynamic façade concept over the case study dynamic façade that showed the best performance in the daylighting simulations.

Daylight Discomfort Glare (DDG) limits the effectiveness of natural light in office spaces, particularly in Cairo’s hot climate, where varying sun angles throughout the day impact visual comfort. The research provides a parametric design tool that integrate building skin designs based on user specified parameters, a daylighting simulation engine that assesses daylighting performance using a single point-in-time method for each design variant, and an optimization tool that helps identify the most optimal design solution based on maximizing daylighting performance while reducing (DDG) for southern orientation in Egyptian office buildings. Through seasonally adaptive design, this study demonstrates how effectively biomimetic building skin can enhance indoor visual comfort. Across four specific test points, the proposed system reduced glare by up to 31% while maintaining indoor illuminance levels within the recommended range of 500–2000 lux compared to an unshaded base case. For June, a 90% perforation ratio with a 20 cm shading extrusion proved most effective, offering a balanced approach to daylight access and glare mitigation, especially in the morning and afternoon, while medium ratios performed better at noon. In December, perforation ratios of 50–60% combined with a 30 cm extrusion effectively blocked low-angle sunlight and reduced glare.

Good daylighting performance positively affects students’ physical and mental health, learning efficiency, and the building’s energy-saving capability. Due to the terrace classroom having ample space, large capacity, the ability to avoid obstructing sight, and the ability to meet various use needs, it is the most important place in university buildings. However, research on the daylighting performance of university terrace classrooms is limited, leading to a lack of quantitative guidance in early design stages. This study aims to explore the effects of interior space and window geometry of terrace classrooms in universities in severe cold regions on daylighting performance. This research took Shenyang as an example; spatial daylight autonomy (sDA300,50%) and useful daylight illuminance (UDI100–2000) were selected as daylighting performance evaluation indices. Based on the Grasshopper parametric platform, the simulation was carried out using Ladybug and Honeybee plugins. Correlation and regression analyses revealed the relationship between interior space and window geometry parameters and the evaluation indices. The results showed the following: window-to-floor ratio (WFR), classroom height (Htc), window height (Hw), window-to-wall ratio (WWR), classroom width (Wtc), and window width (Ww) have positive effects on improving the daylight sufficiency of the terrace classrooms facing each orientation, and the degree of the effect decreases in order. To ensure the overall daylighting performance, the Wtc can be maximized. The width of walls between windows for south-facing and west-facing classrooms should be 0.9 m. The WWR and WFR for south-facing classrooms should be 0.3–0.5 and 0.11–0.14, respectively. The WWR and WFR for north-facing classrooms should be 0.6–0.7 and 0.14–0.20, respectively. Prediction models are established for the sDA300,50% and UDI100–2000 of the terrace classrooms facing each orientation.

The daylighting environment in university gymnasiums affects daily teaching and sports training. However, direct sunlight, glare, and indoor overheating in summer are common problems. Semi-transparent photovoltaic glass can solve these issues by replacing shading facilities, blocking solar radiation, and generating electricity. This study examines the influence of different types of CdTe semi-transparent film photovoltaic glass on the daylighting environment of six typical university gymnasium skylights. The optimal types of CdTe semi-transparent film photovoltaic glass are determined by dynamic daylighting performance metrics DA, DAcon, DAmax, and UDI. The results show that, for instance, centralized rectangular skylights benefit from the 50–60% transmittance type, while centralized X-shaped skylights require the 70–80% transmittance type to enhance indoor daylighting. The research results offer specific recommendations based on skylight shapes and photovoltaic glass types and can provide a reference for the daylighting design of university gymnasium buildings with different forms of photovoltaic skylights in the future.

Atrium spaces are widely applied in university buildings. However, achieving effective energy reduction while maintaining adequate daylighting and indoor comfort remains a major challenge at the early design stage. This study identifies key building form design variables significantly influencing atrium daylighting, energy use, and thermal comfort, including building orientation, atrium width-to-depth ratio, atrium aspect ratio, atrium bottom area ratio, and skylight–roof ratio. A multi-objective optimization (MOO) framework is proposed to balance daylight performance, energy consumption, and thermal comfort under fixed envelope parameters. Using typical single- and double-atrium teaching buildings in cold regions as case studies, this research adopts Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI), Energy Use Intensity (EUI), and Discomfort Time Percentage (DTP) as key indicators to evaluate the interactions between design parameters and building performance. Based on the Pareto-optimal results for the studied prototypes, a south-by-west orientation, moderately slender atrium proportions, relatively compact atrium bottom areas, and medium skylight–roof ratios together yield a balanced performance. Compared with the reference to the initial solution, the optimized solutions reduce EUI by up to 5.66% while also improving UDI and DTP. These results are intended as quantitative references and optimization for early-stage geometric forms design of atrium teaching buildings in cold regions.