Evaluating visual comfort metrics of responsive facade systems as educational activities

Abstract

A responsive facade is capable of adapting to environmental stimuli for reducing both energy consumption and carbon emissions as well as improving users' multi-comfort. Evaluation of visual metrics can lead to designing responsive systems with more efficiency. This paper presents educational activities that provide students with significant learning experience in the design and evaluation of daylight performance in responsive facade systems. The proposed educational activities include designing frameworks with specific steps, identifying design variables, designing responsive facade systems, selecting efficient visual comfort metrics, simulating parametric case studies, designing experiments, measuring influence of design variables on visual comfort metrics, and proposing optimal solutions for visual comfort metrics by using design variables for different occupancy hours. These student activities require utilizing Grasshopper-for-Rhino software for parametric design simulation of responsive facade and using Diva software for daylight measurements to determine the optimum hourly visual comfort metrics. Through these activities, students improve their skills in Computer Aided Design, oral and written presentation, experiment design, and analytical thinking. The educational objectives of the proposed activities closely associate with most of the student outcomes required by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.