High-quality daylighting plays a crucial role in creating a comfortable environment in educational auditoriums. It is well known that insufficient daylighting adversely affects both: students’ health and academic performance. The existing methods for designing and evaluating daylighting focus on ensuring the minimum acceptable levels of horizontal illuminance (Daylight Factor, D) required for visual tasks. However, it is equally important to provide comfortable general daylighting in auditoriums.
Currently, requirements for general daylighting are not systematized. This article proposes a structured approach to defining the functions of daylighting as general lighting in indoor spaces and criteria for assessing comfortable general lighting. These proposals aim to refine the requirements not only for daylighting but also for electrical lighting in future design projects. The authors continue to investigatethe relationship between measurable photometric parameters, obtained using a luxmeter, and qualitative lighting criteria such as light saturation, uniformity, and contrast.
The article presents the results of studies conducted in several auditoriums at the National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (NRU MGSU) with side lighting openings, all serving the same functional purpose but differing in room and opening characteristics. An evaluation of D levels was carried out using the existing methodology, alongside an assessment of saturation through the ratio of the coefficient of daylight cylindrical illuminance (CDCI) to Daylight Factor (D). Additionally, the distributions of the coefficient of daylight vertical illuminance (CDVI) in four planes relative to the light opening and the coefficient of daylight spherical illuminance (CDSI) in characteristic cross-sections were analysed.
It was found that the CDVI in the plane oriented towards the wall opposite the light opening remains nearly constant in absolute values across all points of the characteristic cross-section of the room. Suggestions are provided for assessing contrast and light saturation in rooms using the CDVI.
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• Previous article

• quality of daylighting
• general daylighting
• spherical illuminance
• cylindrical illuminance
• indoor light environment
• side daylighting
• light saturation in rooms
• the coefficient of daylight vertical illuminance (CDVI)
• the coefficient of daylight cylindrical illuminance (CDCI)
• lighting uniformity
• lighting contrast