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Buildings
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Daylighting and Environmental Interactions in Building Design
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Daylighting and Environmental Interactions in Building Design

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2026 | Viewed by 1815

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marcin Brzezicki

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Architecture, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: daylighting; adaptive façades; kinetic architecture; visual comfort; parametric design; building performance simulation; hybrid architecture; environmental design; solar control systems; sustainable building design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores how daylight interacts with architectural form, materials, and environmental systems to shape the sustainable performance of buildings. It welcomes research that deepens our understanding of the role of daylight in creating visually comfortable, energy-efficient, and responsive environments. Its scope encompasses experimental and simulation-based studies on daylight distribution, adaptive and kinetic façades, solar control strategies, and integrated design methods that link daylight with the thermal and ventilation performance of buildings. Contributions are invited from architecture, environmental design, and building engineering, including both theoretical approaches and case studies. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary submissions that connect design intent with measurable ecological outcomes, bridging architectural creativity and environmental responsibility. By gathering these perspectives, this Special Issue will highlight daylight as a central agent influencing the environmental behaviour of buildings and a catalyst for innovative, human-centred, and environmentally responsible design strategies.

Dr. Marcin Brzezicki
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • daylighting design in architecture
  • façade systems and solar strategies
  • environmental performance of buildings
  • adaptive and responsive building envelopes
  • visual and thermal comfort
  • daylight simulation and metrics
  • energy and daylight interaction
  • integrated environmental design
  • sustainable building strategies
  • human-centered sustainable design

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 7005 KB  
Article
The Development and Performance of a Novel Switchable Shading Device
by Etienne Magri, Vincent Buhagiar and Mauro Overend
Buildings 2026, 16(8), 1519; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16081519 - 13 Apr 2026
Viewed by 292
Abstract
Existing buildings with large glazing ratios within subtropical Mediterranean climates face substantial challenges for thermal and visual control of their indoor environment. Previous research by the same authors has already identified the potential of incorporating both solar–PDLC (polymer-dispersed liquid crystal) and SPD (suspended [...] Read more.
Existing buildings with large glazing ratios within subtropical Mediterranean climates face substantial challenges for thermal and visual control of their indoor environment. Previous research by the same authors has already identified the potential of incorporating both solar–PDLC (polymer-dispersed liquid crystal) and SPD (suspended particle device) switchable films within facades exposed to high solar insolation to provide a wide dynamic range of visual transparencies. This paper identifies a novel application for switchable laminates within a dynamic external shading device that permits the casting of a shadow on demand onto existing fenestration. This study compares the degree of glare within an enclosed space attained by a conventional opaque overhang over a window to that achieved with glass shading overhangs incorporating two types of switchable films. Using a scale model in a field test setting, indoor illumination and glare measurements are investigated under different states of switchable films and compared to those provided by conventional static glazing, with and without ordinary external overhangs under identical field test conditions. Results show that switchable overhangs in their transparent/bleached state can allow the ingress of daylight without creating excessive glare, whereas in their translucent/tinted state, switchable shades can deliver a level of glare protection similar to that provided by an opaque shading overhang. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Daylighting and Environmental Interactions in Building Design)
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29 pages, 2867 KB  
Article
Experimental Assessment of Peak Daylight Exposure Under Clear-Sky Conditions in Zenithally Lit Museum Rooms at 51° Latitude
by Marcin Brzezicki
Buildings 2026, 16(2), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020436 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 609
Abstract
This study investigates peak daylight exposure in zenithally lit museum rooms at 51° latitude through an experimental campaign using a 1:20 physical mock-up of a 12 × 12 × 6 m exhibition gallery space. Nine configurations of shading and light-transmitting elements (CSaLTE) were [...] Read more.
This study investigates peak daylight exposure in zenithally lit museum rooms at 51° latitude through an experimental campaign using a 1:20 physical mock-up of a 12 × 12 × 6 m exhibition gallery space. Nine configurations of shading and light-transmitting elements (CSaLTE) were tested under real clear-sky conditions between June and October. To ensure a valid comparative analysis, indoor vertical illuminance (Ev) was measured at 15 min intervals and subsequently interpolated and normalised to a unified equinox-day solar geometry (06:00–18:00). This hybrid empirical-computational methodology allows for a direct performance comparison across different geometric arrangements regardless of their specific measurement dates. The results demonstrate that while traditional annual metrics are the standard, short-term illuminance peaks pose a severe and underexplored threat to conservation safety. Even the most light-attenuating diffusing-roof configurations produced short-term illuminance peaks and cumulative clear-sky exposures that are comparable in magnitude to commonly cited annual limits for highly light-sensitive materials, with several configurations recording extreme spikes surpassing the sensor’s 20,000 lx saturation limit. Stable, low-illuminance distributions were observed only in selected diffusing-roof arrangements (M05–M07), whereas direct-glazing systems (M01–M04) produced unsafe exposure patterns with high temporal variability and poor visual adaptation conditions. The study concludes that passive roof geometries alone are insufficient to ensure conservation-level safety without additional active filtering or adaptive control strategies, providing an experimentally grounded framework for designing zenithal daylighting systems in museum environments. The results are intended for relative peak-risk comparison under controlled clear-sky conditions rather than direct generalisation to whole-room annual conservation safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Daylighting and Environmental Interactions in Building Design)
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14 pages, 5251 KB  
Article
Facade Unfolding and GANs for Rapid Visual Prediction of Indoor Daylight Autonomy
by Jiang An, Jiuhong Zhang, Xiaomeng Si, Mingxiao Ma, Chen Du, Xiaoqian Zhang, Longxuan Che and Zhiyuan Lin
Buildings 2026, 16(2), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16020351 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 538
Abstract
Achieving optimal daylighting is a cornerstone of sustainable architectural design, impacting energy efficiency and occupant well-being. Fast and accurate prediction during the conceptual phase is crucial but challenging. While physics-based simulations are accurate but slow, existing machine learning methods often rely on restrictive [...] Read more.
Achieving optimal daylighting is a cornerstone of sustainable architectural design, impacting energy efficiency and occupant well-being. Fast and accurate prediction during the conceptual phase is crucial but challenging. While physics-based simulations are accurate but slow, existing machine learning methods often rely on restrictive parametric inputs, limiting their application across free-form designs. This study presents a novel, geometry-agnostic framework that uses only building facade unfolding diagrams as input to a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). Our core innovation is a 2D representation that preserves 3D facade geometry and orientation by “unfolding” it onto the floor plan, eliminating the need for predefined parameters or intermediate features during prediction. A Pix2pixHD model was trained, validated, and tested on a total of 720 paired diagram-simulation images (split 80:10:10). The model achieves high-fidelity visual predictions, with a mean Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) of 0.93 against RADIANCE/Daysim benchmarks. When accounting for the practical time of diagram drafting, the complete workflow offers a speedup of approximately 1.5 to 52 times compared to conventional simulation. This work provides architects with an intuitive, low-threshold tool for rapid daylight performance feedback in early-stage design exploration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Daylighting and Environmental Interactions in Building Design)
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