Daylight in façade renewal : using new metrics to inform the retrofitting of aging modern-ear façade types

Abstract

New methods for quantifying daylight are increasingly accessible to designers and planners. While these methods have enabled new building facades to better balance the admission of daylight with the maintenance of thermal control, they have generally not been applied to the existing building stock. This project uses these new methods of quantifying daylight to inform the renewal of aging facades on the MIT campus. The goal is to demonstrate how daylight analysis can inform the retrofitting process of prevalent modern-era facade types in need of renewal. The work shows how using these metrics in evaluating light access, facade type, and an array of retrofit measures in campus planning is helpful in understanding how intervention might enhance the use of daylight.