DAYLIGHTING APPLICATIONS IN HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

Abstract

Based on global warming and decreasing natural energy resources, it is necessary to focus on reducing energy consumption in buildings. Nowadays, energy efficient design solutions come to the fore due to the decrease in renewable energy sources. Natural light is one of the most important ways to save energy. Light has an important effect on providing visual comfort in a space. Daylighting is a kind of passive strategy to improve energy performance and users’visual comfort. It can contribute to human health, performance and productivity. Appropriate design of daylighting is of great importance in energy efficient architectural designs. In the lighting of the building, designs should be made primarily by considering the daylighting factors. The most basic feature of good lighting is to provide a sufficient level of illumination. Cultural heritage structures were built in accordance with different design principles in order to benefit from sunlight at the maximum level during the period they were built. Window openings, window wall ratios, skylights are design elements that play an important role in natural lighting from past to present. In this study, six different historical building samples with different functions selected in Niğde were evaluated in terms of natural lighting design approaches. In historical buildings, lighting was realized with window openings or skylights of different sizes. The location of the building, the climatic conditions, the material used in the construction were factors in the size of the window openings. It is thought that the findings obtained in the study will give an idea in terms of similar building types built in similar periods.