ASSESSMENT OF LIGHTING IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS

Abstract

It is a well known fact that lighting plays a very important role in the performance of any task in a space. Source of light can either be artificial or the sun. School buildings are a type of construction in which the occupants use it the most at the times when natural light is available in plenty. In a learning environment, the lighting plays a very major role. The aim of this thesis was to study about the lighting requirements of school buildings by performing a comparative analysis of school buildings in composite type of climate. For the purpose of this dissertation, the spaces that were studied were limited to laboratories and classrooms alone. Building codes specify the average illumination levels required in a space according to the type of function that particular space will host. But case studies reveal that although average illumination levels may be within the recommended range, the actual level of illumination at individual positions in the observed space may be too high or too low in the same space, i.e. there is a large variation in the distribution of lighting in the space. This distribution of light is affected by several architectural parameters that can be controlled by the architect through the design process. This may be done for projects that have to be designed from the scratch, or for projects that need retrofits to control the illumination levels inside the space. The final outcome of the dissertation consists of design guidelines for the spaces observed, based on the analysis of findings from the live case study and the literature review. The design guidelines deal with the main architectural parameters that have a direct impact on the indoor light quality.