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Skylights
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open skylights were used in Ancient Roman architecture, such as the oculus of the Pantheon. Glazed 'closed' skylights have been in use since the Industrial Revolution, when advances in glass manufacturing made them practical. Since the mid-20th century, mass production of skylights has brought them to many more uses and contexts. Energy conservation has brought new motivation for installing skylights, design innovations (including options in light transmission), and skylight efficiency ratings. Description Skylighting types include roof windows, unit skylights, tubular daylighting devices (TDDs), sloped glazing, and custom skylights. Uses include: * daylighting elements used to allow direct and/or indirect sunlight, via toplighting. * p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passive Solar Building Design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate performing an accurate site analysis. Elements to be considered include window placement and size, and glazing type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading. Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but existing buildings can be adapted or "retrofitted". Passive energy gain ''Passive solar'' technologies use sunlight without active mechanical systems (as contrasted to ''active solar'', which uses thermal collectors). Such technologies convert sunlight into usable heat (in water, air, and thermal mass), cau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daylighting (architecture)
Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and Reflective surfaces (climate engineering), reflective surfaces so that direct or indirect sunlight can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is given to daylighting while designing a building when the aim is to maximize visual comfort or to reduce energy use. Energy savings can be achieved from the reduced use of artificial (electric) lighting or from passive solar heating. Artificial lighting energy use can be reduced by simply installing fewer electric lights where daylight is present or by automatically Dimmer, dimming or switching off electric lights in response to the presence of daylighta process known as daylight harvesting. The amount of daylight received in an internal space can be analyzed by measuring illuminance on a grid or undertaking a daylight factor calculation. Computer programs such as Radiance (software), Radiance allow an architect or engineer to quickly calculat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavement Lights
Pavement lights (UK), vault lights (US), floor lights, or sidewalk prisms are flat-topped walk-on skylights, usually set into pavement (sidewalks) or floors to let sunlight into the space below. They often use anidolic lighting prisms to throw the light sideways under the building. They were developed in the 19th century, but declined in popularity with the advent of cheap electric lighting in the early 20th. Older cities and smaller centers around the world have, or once had, pavement lights. In the early 21st century, such lights are over a century old, although lights are being installed in some new construction. Uses Sidewalk prisms are a method of daylighting basements, and are able to serve as a sole source of illumination during the day. At night, lighting in the basements beneath produces a glowing sidewalk. Vault lights may be used to make subterranean space useful. They are more common in city centers, dense, high-rent areas where space is valuable. Historically, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tubular Daylighting Device
Light tubes (also known as solar pipes, tubular skylights or sun tunnels) are structures that transmit or distribute natural or artificial light for the purpose of illumination and are examples of optical waveguides. In their application to daylighting, they are also often called tubular daylighting devices, sun pipes, sun scopes, or daylight pipes. They can be divided into two broad categories: hollow structures that contain the light with reflective surfaces; and transparent solids that contain the light by total internal reflection. Principles of nonimaging optics govern the flow of light through them. Types IR light tubes Manufacturing custom designed infrared light pipes, hollow waveguides and homogenizers is non-trivial. This is because these are tubes lined with a highly polished infrared reflective coating of gold, which can be applied thick enough to permit these tubes to be used in highly corrosive atmospheres. Carbon black can be applied to certain parts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glass Brick
Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. The appearance of glass blocks can vary in color, size, texture and form. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light. The modern glass block was developed from pre-existing prism lighting principles in the early 1900s to provide natural light in manufacturing plants. Today glass blocks are used in walls, skylights, and sidewalk lights. Attributes Appearance The texture and color of glass blocks can vary in order to provide a range of transparency. Patterns can be pressed into either the inner void or the outside surface of the glass when it is cooling in order to provide differing effects. Glazes or inserts may also be added in order to create a desired private or decorative effect. Standards and grading Glass blocks in Europe are manufactured in accordance with the European Standard EN1052-2. The International Standard is ISO TC 160/SG1. The Standards allow for vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oculus (architecture)
An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in classical architecture, it is a feature of Byzantine architecture, Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. A horizontal oculus in the center of a dome is also called opaion (; ). Oeil-de-boeuf An ''oeil-de-boeuf'' (; ), also ''œil de bœuf'' and sometimes anglicized as ''ox-eye window'', is a relatively small ellipse, elliptical window, typically for an upper storey, and sometimes set in a roof slope as a dormer, or above a door to let in Daylighting (architecture), natural light. These are relatively small windows, traditionally oval. The term is increasingly used for circular windows (in which case it could also be called an oculus), but not for holes in domes or ceilings. Windows of this type are commonly found in the grand architecture of baroque architecture, Baroque France. The term is also applied to similar round windows, such as those found in Georgian architecture in Great B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roof Window
A roof window is an outward opening window that is incorporated as part of the design of a roof A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera .... Often confused with a skylight, a roof window differs in a few basic ways. A roof window is often a good option when there is a desire to allow both light and fresh air into the space. A roof window is different from a tubular skylight in that the light is not directed through any type of channel or tube in order to provide lighting for the interior of a building. This type of light tube design is often employed with buildings where the installation of a skylight or roof window is not practical. While a roof window is normally included in the original construction of the building, it is possible to add the design feature to an exist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prism Lighting
Prism lighting is the use of prisms to improve the distribution of light in a space. It is usually used to distribute daylight, and is a form of anidolic lighting. Prism lighting was popular from its introduction in the 1890s through to the 1930s, when cheap electric lights became commonplace and prism lighting became unfashionable. While mass production of prism lighting systems ended around 1940, the 2010s have seen a revival using new materials. How it works The human eye's response to light is non-linear: halving the light level does not halve the perceived brightness of a space, it makes it look only slightly dimmer. If light is redistributed from the brightest parts of a room to the dimmest, the room therefore appears brighter overall, and more space can be given a useful and comfortable level of illumination (see before and after images from an 1899 article, below). This can reduce the need for artificial lighting. Refraction and total internal reflection inside optica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retractable Roof
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term operable skylight, while quite similar, refers to a skylight that opens on a hinge, rather than on a track. Retractable roofs are used in residences, restaurants and bars, swim centres, arenas and stadiums, and other facilities wishing to provide protection from the elements, as well as the option of having an open roof during favourable weather. History The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records show that David S. Miller, founder of Rollamatic Retractable Roofs, filed in August 1963 for "a movable and remotely controllable roof section for houses and other types of buildings". Shapes and sizes While any shape is possible, common shapes are flat, ridge, hip-ridge, barrel and dome. A residence might incorporate one or m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daylight Factor
In architecture, a daylight factor (DF) is the ratio of the light level inside a structure to the light level outside the structure. It is defined as: :''DF = (Ei / Eo) x 100%'' where, ''Ei'' = illuminance due to daylight at a point on the indoors working plane, ''Eo'' = simultaneous outdoor illuminance on a horizontal plane from an unobstructed hemisphere of overcast sky. To calculate ''Ei'', requires knowing the amount of outside light received inside of a building. Light can reach a room via through a glazed window, rooflight, or other aperture via three paths: * Direct light from a patch of sky visible at the point considered, known as the sky component (''SC''), * Light reflected from an exterior surface and then reaching the point considered, known as the externally reflected component (''ERC''), * Light entering through the window but reaching the point only after reflection from an internal surface, known as the internally reflected component (''IRC''). The sum of the thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Italian language, Italian, from lower Latin ''cupula'' (classical Latin ''cupella''), (Latin ''cupa''), indicating a vault resembling an upside-down cup. The cylindrical drum underneath a larger cupola is called a tholobate. Background The cupola evolved during the Renaissance from the older Oculus (architecture), oculus. Being weatherproof, the cupola was better suited to the wetter climates of northern Europe. The chhatri, seen in Architecture of India, Indian architecture, fits the definition of a cupola when it is used atop a larger structure. Cupolas often serve as a Bell tower, belfry, Belvedere (structure), belvedere, or roof lantern above a main roof. In other cases they may crown a spire, tower, or Turret (architecture), turret. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
