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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.

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.

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.

In contemporary architecture, building industrialization and technology innovation have resulted in an increasing development of innovative systems to control sunlight and skylight, in order to influence both daylight and solar gains admitted into an interior space. Openings have evolved more and more and become ‘daylighting systems’, that is integrated packages which consist of both transparent and shading components. They are designed to be multi-purpose systems that have the purpose of controlling different functions: daylight penetration in a space, the shading of solar gains and sunlight, the view outside, daylight chromaticity, ventilation, thermal insulation in winter and sound insulation. Some of these components have passive behaviour, as their thermal and optical properties do not change in response to boundary conditions in terms of temperature or illuminance, while other components have active behaviour, which means that their performance can be automatically or manually varied through HVAC and lighting systems.