My approach to the project
This is my final year research project, which I worked on for more than 6 months. When I first started the project, I had no prior knowledge of thermal comfort, energy efficiency, or daylighting. During the initial stages of the research, I referred to several books and documentation to get a background knowledge of the topic, which was totally new to me. Most of the books and keywords were suggested to me by my supervisor, Prof. Rahula Attalage. I spent around two weeks reading the following books and reports to get familiar with basic theories and statutory requirements before starting work on the project.
- The Lighting Handbook 10th by Illuminating Engineers Society
- ASHRAE Handbook 2021 by ASHRAE
- Energy Efficient Building Code of Sri Lanka 2020 by SLSEA
I could learn numerous things about light, colors, visual light transmittance (VLT), etc. from the IES Lighting Handbook. From where light is produced to how the brain decodes light signals, I could learn everything very clearly and concisely from this book. The ASHRAE handbook, which is published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, includes every important thing related to the functioning and operation of residential and commercial buildings. Since the day I started working on this project, I could not find a better resource to learn about thermal comfort and how people adapt to various thermal environments. In addition, much interesting and important information on commercial HVAC systems and their standards could be collected from this book. After discovering the theoretical background of the given project, I always wanted to conduct the experiments and simulations in accordance with the statutory requirements and internationally recognized standards. So I referred to the EEBC to find out more about the quantitative limitations on using daylight in commercial buildings in Sri Lanka. Building designers, for example, must ensure that they do not exceed the maximum number of vertical windows permitted for a non-residential building. These constraints were initially established to improve the reliability and quality of my research.
Background
A skylight is a structure or window, generally comprised of transparent or translucent glass, that may be fixed on any part of the roof of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. Since skylights offer most architectural designs a luxurious appearance, they are quite popular among architects and building designers. On the other hand, skylights provide adequate lighting for the majority of buildings. The visibility of objects within a building envelope is enhanced by the light coming through skylights. Transparent skylights let not only visible radiation but also thermal radiation to flow through. They also weaken the total thermal barrier of the roof by permitting heat transmission via conduction. Despite the fact that skylights are a great alternative to artificial lighting, heat transfer is a crucial factor for thermal comfort.
Literature review reveals that the majority of American and European nations outside the equator utilize skylights to heat buildings throughout the winter. The majority of studies and tests conducted on this topic up until this point have been conducted in these countries. Consequently, the findings and conclusions of these research cannot be directly applied to tropical countries close to the equator. Architects and engineers in these countries are strongly discouraged from employing daylighting due to the heat produced by solar radiation. This excess heat must subsequently be evacuated in order to preserve the thermal comfort of the building's occupants. However, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) already account for the largest portion of non-residential buildings' overall energy use. Adding an unnecessary heat source thereby exacerbates the issue. In contrast to residential buildings, non-residential buildings are regularly monitored by energy and environmental authorities to regulate their power use in accordance with the country's laws and regulations.
Case study and problem statement
For the study, it was required to find a suitable non-residential building. A survey of the relevant literature revealed that no research has been conducted on the use of skylights in Sri Lankan supermarkets to reduce the need for artificial lighting. Since the topic was first suggested by the supervisor, he gave me a hint about a building that utilizes skylights to save energy on lighting during daytime. Particularly, Arpico Super Center, Wattala was chosen as a suitable non-residential building for the research and investigations since its supermarket building already has skylights as daylight luminaries. During the preliminary background investigation for this project, I could discover that this building was initially constructed for a different purpose and was subsequently acquired by Arpico in order to establish a branch of their island-wide grocery network. In Sri Lanka, there are a number of supermarket industrial giants. Arpico holds a unique position among them, since they provide a wide range of items, such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), furniture, home and office equipment, electronics, and more. Arpico is a place where buyers spend a huge amount of time picking items due to the availability of a greater variety of products. Therefore, Arpico supermarkets are often spacious and busy in comparison to those of their competitors. On the other hand, this results in an enormous need for power to maintain lighting and ventilation within the building. Arpico was the most suitable option when picking a building due to its enormous need for power to maintain lighting and ventilation within its massive 50,000 ft2 floor area, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 2 Arpico Super Center, Wattala.
Figure 3 Skylight installation at Arpico.
My objectives and approach to them
After getting a rough idea about skylights and how they can be used to save energy, I decided to carry out some on-site surveys to collect information on energy savings, so on. However, it didn't take that long for me to identify that there are so many practical difficulties when trying to collect data straight from a commercial business. Therefore, after discussing with the supervisor, I came up with the following work plan.
1. To identify technical and economic-related parameters with
respect to skylight devices available in the local and global markets and
classify them according to their performance characteristics and costs.
·
By conducting online surveys and contacting
local skylight contractors.
·
By contacting suppliers and contractors
directly through emailing.
2. To study the impact of skylights on thermal
comfort and the cooling load of a non-residential building.
·
By carrying out building energy simulations
to identify correlations between skylight area and overall energy consumption
with respect to space cooling load and unmet hours.
3. To determine the best combination of sizes,
materials, and types of skylights to fulfill the lighting requirements of a
non-residential building without compromising the thermal comfort and energy
efficiency.
·
By carrying out indoor lighting simulations
to determine the daylight availability and additional lighting requirement with
respect to selected skylight configurations.
4. To verify the findings with reference to an
identified typical case in Sri Lanka.
·
By comparing the results of the study with
the actual case, Arpico Supermarket.
5. To study the effectiveness and advantages
of using skylights in non-residential buildings in tropical countries like Sri
Lanka.
·
By conducting an on-site survey on thermal
comfort within the selected supermarket premises to collect customer feedback.
·
By evaluating the outcomes of several
existing skylight projects in Sri Lanka.
·
By investigating the amount of lighting
electricity that can be saved under different weather conditions in different
areas of the country using simulations.
6. To investigate the economic benefits of
utilizing skylights in Sri Lankan non-residential buildings based on the
findings of the study.
·
By further investigating the return on investment of the
selected non-residential building with aid of all accessible information.
·
By carrying out a financial feasibility test for a set of skylight
configurations with the use of product and installation costs in local market.
More on the research and findings will be discussed in later blog posts
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