Light & Engineering 34 (1) 2026

Volume 34
Date of publication 02/19/2026
Pages 4–13

A Computational Framework for Optimising Daylight Performance of Double Skin Facades in Educational Buildings: Case of Mediterranean Climate L&E, Vol.34, No.1, 2026

Articles authors:

Mustafa Serhan Unluturk, Zehra Tuğçe Kazanasmaz, Berk Ekici, Turkan Goksal Ozbalta

Mustafa Serhan Unluturk is Ph. D. student in Department of Architecture at Izmir Institute of Technology. He got his Master’s degree from Balikesir University, Department of Architecture in 2020. He is a lecturer in the Department of Architecture in Balikesir University, Türkiye since 2020. His research topics are energy performance, architectural lighting and optimisation

Zehra Tugce Kazanasmaz,Professor, Ph. D. She held a Doctor of Philosophy in Building Science from Middle East Technical University (METU). She has 24 years academic experience in architectural lighting, building physics, and energy efficient design. At present, she is a Professor in the Department of Architecture in İzmir Institute of Technology, Türkiye

Berk Ekici, Assistant Professor, Ph. D. He held a Doctor of Philosophy from Design Informatics at the TU Delft. He has 14 years of academic experience in computational design, machine learning, optimization, and building performance simulation. Currently, he is an Assistant Prof. Dr. in the Department of Architecture at İzmir Institute of Technology, Türkiye

Turkan Goksal Ozbalta, Professor, Ph. D. She held a Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture from Dortmunt University. She has 33 years academic experience in thermal comfort, airtightness, building physics and energy efficient design. At present, she is a Prof. Dr. in the Department of Civil Engineering in the Ege University, Türkiye

Abstract:

Facades, as a building component, directly impact indoor comfort conditions. Different facades systems have been developed not only to cope with thermal and visual comfort aspects, but also for energy efficiency, use of daylight, and natural ventilation. Designers consider Double Skin Facade (DSF) systems in educational buildings to improve the abovementioned performance aspects. Recent works deal with a fixed room depth for proposed parametric DSF models, considering fundamental versions of well-known optimisation algorithms. Since the educational buildings require various room depths based on the function of the building, optimum daylight performance may not be achieved with the same cavity gap utilizing only one well-known solver. This study proposes a computational framework to cope with this problem in DSFs for educational buildings. In this context, the study suggests a parametric educational space with a DSF system and optimised seven design parameters, including twelve room depth scenarios by using three single objective optimisation algorithms. The study suggests optimised design scenarios for spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) and Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) in the region between 35o – 40o N latitudes of the Mediterranean CSA climate type 1. Although previous works have frequently used the genetic algorithm (GA) to solve DSF design problems, results showed that GA is unsuitable for coping with sDA and ASE. The results indicated that a single opening is insufficient to provide optimum sDA and ASE in educational buildings with DSF systems, which room depth of more than 7 m.

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Keywords

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33383/2025-027

Article in RUS:
Svetotekhnika # 6, 2025, pp. 31–37

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