1. INTRODUCTION
It might be thought that illuminance requirements for office tasks can be met easily in countries with high solar radiation, for the whole year and during most regular working hours. The potential exists for substantial energy savings through fewer use of artificial lighting.
Even though, a conflict occurs from uncontrolled admittance of natural light. It can bring undesirable high visual contrast between perimeter areas and those located at the depth of the room. Cooling loads increase due to the additional incoming radiation as well.
Due to the reasons stated above, most local efforts to achieve climate-conscious architecture concentrate in keeping openings with reduced size, or at the same time providing them with shade control elements. However, light re-distribution elements are rarely considered in addition to being less known.
This paper compares by means of computer simulations, visual comfort and performance of three available systems. They comprise a single unprotected double glazed window, a lightshelf and a basic anidolic concentrator.
These devices help to improve the quality of office spaces by redirecting and redistributing daylight under a climate of high solar radiation. It is a selection from a wider study [1] that combines both qualitative and quantitative factors and includes more systems, times of the year and orientations.
Usage recommendations are given on how this procedure can become part of an architectural design strategy based on the evaluations mentioned above