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Results from the DAYKE-Italy project are presented. An investigation on daylighting in eight classrooms in five Italian universities was carried out through a combined approach: an ad-hoc survey administered to students to investigate how they perceive daylight in classroom, and numerical simulations (DIVA + ALFA) to calculate a set of objective metrics (daylight, circadian, and energy-related). A sample of 542 questionnaires was collected through two sessions and the subjective judgments were correlated to objective metrics. Results from descriptive and statistical analyses showed: (i) the correlation was significant for all daylight metrics: among them, average daylight factor and annual light exposure performed higher correlations compared to daylight autonomy, spatial daylight autonomy and useful daylight illuminance; (ii) rooms with a scarce or an optimal daylight provision (according to standards) were rated with comparable subjective score; (iii) the equivalent melanopic lux showed a higher correlation than daylight metrics based on the horizontal workplane; (iv) energy saving up to 50% can be achieved in the presence of high daylight provision and through daylight responsive controls; however, a relamping of fluorescent systems with LED system is recommended to optimize the consumption; furthermore, estimated saving correlated significantly with objective metrics.

Daylighting is a strategic topic to achieve sustainable buildings, so it is more and more imperative that it is implemented in architecture curricula to prepare a new generation of daylighting-oriented practitioners. In this frame, the DAYKE project (Daylight Knowledge in Europe) was set up to explore the level of knowledge about daylighting among European professionals and students. DAYKE-Europe was replicated as DAYKE-Italy to study the knowledge of daylight standards, metrics and software among Italian architecture students, and to compare it to that observed within DAYKE-Europe. A sample of 542 questionnaires were collected in five universities. Primary outcomes were: (i) a general low level of knowledge on daylighting was observed; the most cited metrics were the average daylight factor and the geometrical window-to-floor ratio, while climate-based daylight metrics were rarely mentioned; (ii) master science M.Sc. students reported more knowledge on daylight metrics and regulations than bachelor B.Sc. students, while the implementation of daylight metrics and strategies in projects was mainly deficient among B.Sc. students; (iii) compared to European students (DAYKE-Europe), Italian students showed a higher knowledge of daylight metrics and software (especially as for M.Sc. students), while the opposite was observed for standards, regulations and protocols. Based on the results, a reconsideration of daylight education in architecture curricula is recommended.

This paper presents selected results from the first stage of DAYKE (Daylight Knowledge in Europe), a 3-phase project that investigates the knowledge on daylighting in buildings among architecture students and practitioners across Europe. Subjective judgements from 561 students from 8 architecture universities in the EU, collected through two surveys in 2018. The key findings are: (i) the spatial distribution of comfort and mood in the classrooms varied depending on sky conditions and distance from windows; (ii) the average daylight factor DFm showed a good agreement with subjective judgements on the amount of daylight in a space; (iii) experts and non-experts provided similar judgements on the perception of a daylit environment; (iv) a general lack of knowledge about daylighting metrics, regulations, assessment tools and software was highlighted. Furthermore a difficulty in implementing daylighting into the design practice is also identified.

Thermochromic switchable glazing have been gaining increasing popularity among dynamic building envelope solutions aimed at reducing energy demand in tertiary buildings, due to their capability of varying optical properties according to the material temperature. This enables the management of entering solar loads without any need for an active control, hence thermochromic glazing performance relies on effective material design. Nevertheless, to date the development of thermochromic glazing materials has relied on limited building performance evaluations, considering the effect of managing solar radiation on energy use for heating and cooling alone, and without representing in a comprehensive way the variations of the thermochromic optical properties to include hysteresis phenomena. The present paper aims to evaluate the building performance of a ligand exchange thermochromic glazing (LETC), characterised by a wide variation of optical properties in the visible and solar spectra and hysteresis between heating and cooling cycles. To this aim an ad-hoc developed building performance simulation strategy is presented, enabling data integration between dynamic thermal simulation and climate based daylight analysis, including a thermochromic parametrical model describing the hysteretical variation of optical properties as a function of material temperature, derived from experimental measurements. The simulation method is adopted to evaluate the energy uses for heating, cooling and lighting and the visual comfort in an office space integrating the LETC glazing in different climatic contexts. The results show that the LETC glazing is able to optimise multiple building performance aspects simultaneously. Compared to static glazing benchmarks with comparable selectiveness, for the considered locations, the LETC glazing achieves a total energy use reduction from 3% to 10% and daylight availability improvements from 5% to nearly 20%. Increasing the thermochromic hysteresis has shown a positive effect on improving daylight availability (from 5% to 15%) and on reducing probable glare due to direct solar radiation (from 12% to 25%), with negligible effect on total energy use. Finally, the simulation framework presented represents a general method that can be adopted to evaluate the performance of other switchable glazing technologies as well.

Lighting is a very important factor in healthcare, with positive effects both on patients' mood and recovery time and on the nursing staff's job satisfaction and reduced stress. Nevertheless, few studies focused specifically on lighting in healthcare buildings. This study investigated the luminous environmental quality through an objective and a subjective approach, reporting results from field activities in four hospitals in Turin and Asti (region of Piedmont, Italy), aimed both at detecting critical conditions of non-compliance with reference to standards and at evaluating visual comfort of patients, visitors and of the nursing staff. From objective measurements, much non-compliance was found. In spite of this, subjective analyses showed that the group of patients and visitors was satisfied with the quality and quantity of lighting within their rooms, while the nursing staff were generally less satisfied. Based on these findings, first considerations for the design of user-centred healthcare buildings are discussed.

This paper presents a study for the transformation of an industrial area in Turin, Italy. The area hosts two buildings (one of which appointed as listed) to be transformed into dwellings. A synergic approach was adopted which combined expertise from architecture, social-economics, psychology and building physics sciences. Building physics sciences lead the research team. A user-centered design was pursued, using a bottom-up approach. A specifically developed questionnaire was submitted on-line to potential users. The survey showed that ‘amount of daylight', ‘size of rooms', ‘tranquility of the area' and ‘presence of a private garden' were perceived by users to be the most positive aspects of both their present and future, ideal home. These results were then implemented into the project. The exploitation of daylight became the driving force of the transformation project. Especially for the listed building, skylights and light wells were designed to bring daylight into the cores of the buildings, which host common spaces such as libraries or study rooms. The amount of daylight was assessed through the legislative index of the average daylight factor and through a climate-based modeling approach, calculating dynamic metrics such as the spatial daylight autonomy and the Useful Daylight Illuminance. The paper critically compares and discusses these two approaches. Finally, the energy demand for lighting was also calculated to analyze how the increased exploitation of daylight may imply a reduced need for electricity for lighting.