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The illuminating engineering of buildings
Department of Buildings Physics
The research work in illuminating engineering is focused on experimental and theoretical studies of:
– the daylight climate in the exterior and interior spaces of buildings,
– the illumination conditions in interiors due to daylight or supplementary lighting in the existing buildings and their predetermination in design or by the help of models under an artificial sky, a hemispherical dome with a diameter of 8 m simulates the CIE Standard Overcast and Clear Sky, the influence of luminance distributions on luminous comfort and its effect on visual distraction and discomfort due to glare, the lighting-engineering properties of building materials (the light transmittance, reflectance, diffusivity, their spectral and color properties etc.), insolation of interiors and insolation problems in urban spaces, solar radiation for heliotechnical applications and passive solar energy use.
Since January 1994 is in operation the IDMP Bratislava station (General Class type),measuring in one-minute intervals exterior global and diffuse horizontal illuminance, and irradiance as well as vertical illuminances in four cardinal directions with zenith luminance. The station is included in the world-wide network of IDMP stationscoordinated by CIE (Commission Internationale de l´Éclairage – International Commission on Illumination). Data are gathered, stored and quality controlled in accordance with conditions valid for the stations of the IDMP -International Daylighting Measurement Program.
The research results are focused on calculation methods and their application to design problems of daylighting, on modeling the luminous climate, its dynamical processes and changes. Applied research provides the bases for computer methods and programs, for standards, designing practice guides and hygienic health prevention measures. Furthermore studies of the solar radiation propagation are directed towards modeling and elaborating computing methods (e.g. SOLEN, SOLOK, SOLOZ AND SOLKOL) that can be utilized in heliotechnics, in energy-efficient building design, in building climatology and in environmental engineering. The research team participated and is currently active in solving both the domestic and foreign grant projects, e.g. the EU project „Availability of Daylighting – Design of European Daylighting Atlas”, SK-US task „A set of standard skies characterizing daylight conditions for computer and energy conscious design”, Slovak-Greek project „Reference daylight conditions for energy-saving building design” etc.