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2024 Vol.15, Issue 2 Preview Page

General Article

Effect of unit layout and façade design on high-rise apartment indoor daylight conditions in tropical climate
Najib T. Al-Ashwal1
,
Yaik-Wah Lim23*
,
David B. Dalumo4
,
Pau Chung Leng1
,
Noraslinda Abdul Rahamn15
,
Sharifah S.S. Mahdzar13
1Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia
2Associate Professor, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, UTM, Malaysia
3Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Built Environment in the Malay World (KALAM), Institute for Smart Infrastructure and Innovative Construction (ISIIC), UTM, Malaysia
4Ph.D Candidate, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, UTM, Malaysia
5Director, KALAM, ISIIC, UTM, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author
30 June 2024. pp. 140-159
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Abstract

The rapid urban population growth and land scarcity in major cities have resulted in the development of high-density, high-rise apartment buildings as a common urban housing typology. Given their density and layout efficiency, apartment living units usually rely on windows on one side to receive natural lighting despite the abundance of daylight in the tropical climate. Therefore, this paper investigates the daylight conditions in three selected high-rise apartments with different layouts and orientations in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Field measurements were conducted using illuminance sensors with data loggers in three selected high-rise apartments for 4-5 days. The measurements were carried out in different months to capture variations in daylight conditions. The measurement results revealed that units with a room depth of less than 2.5 times window height (H) experienced high illuminance levels, particularly near the external windows. In contrast, units with a room depth of more than 2.5 H exhibited lower illumination levels, necessitating electric lighting to illuminate the deeper areas of the rooms. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical field measurements of daylight conditions in high-rise apartments in a tropical climate. While previous studies have relied primarily on modelling and simulation, this research offers real-world insights into the effects of room layout, window size, and adjacent shading on daylighting performance.

Keywords
daylighting
apartment
illuminance
daylight ratio
visual comfort
tropics
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Information
  • Publisher :Sustainable Building Research Center (ERC) Innovative Durable Building and Infrastructure Research Center
  • Publisher(Ko) :건설구조물 내구성혁신 연구센터
  • Journal Title :International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Urban Development
  • Volume : 15
  • No :2
  • Pages :140-159
  • Received Date : 2024-01-12
  • Accepted Date : 2024-06-21
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.22712/susb.20240012
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