A comparison between lighting and daylighting performance in an office building and an economic comparison of daylighting and lighting control system

During the last quarter of the 20th-century and early years of this century, architects and designers have recognized the importance and value of introducing natural light into buildings. Daylight in buildings has impacted human behaviour and human factors and has reduced the stress and discomfort of users. The urgency of increasing energy efficiency in new building design and retrofits has moved lighting simulation into a central role in sustainable lighting design. Daylighting is a key strategy in reaching the contractual energy use. In this study an office building model was studied and the lighting control range was determined by employing a daylight analysis simulation using a lighting simulation software that gives the most information regarding incoming daylight. Indoor illumination was analysed to determine the lighting rate then was studied setting of artificial zoning for lighting control, analysis of lighting control range and setting the standard illumination for the turning off the artificial lighting through the simulation. When the lighting control was applied, an economic analysis was performed by utilizing the payback period that was calculated by comparing the initial cost of installing the electric lighting control system with the annual energy cost which was reduced by the application of lighting control. The objective of this study is to perform an economic analysis of the daylight and automatic on/off lighting control system installed for the purpose of energy savings in office buildings.