Numerical Modelling of Urban Built Form Geometry for Maximum Daylight Potential

Abstract

The main focus of this research is urban development and planning to use maximum solar irradiance for Kolkata region. To develop this building management system, the impact of different urban built form geometry types and its orientation on the daylighting potential has been experimentally observed. The approach and methodology of this study is to highlight that there is uneven distribution of illumination in the interiors of various built forms with different orientations, caused due to overcrowding and shadowing of neighbouring buildings, and to suggest the optimum or desirable layout of built form in an urban fabric. The study is also significant as the city Kolkata falls under tropical climatic condition where the solar irradiance is abundant. The average illuminance has been obtained in different built forms with different orientations on hourly basis from morning to evening for different typologies of urban built form geometries. The results have then been analysed and the findings from the study suggests the appropriate built form typologies and their orientations to get the optimum or desirable illuminance level inside the buildings and hence saving power consumption and thus offering better opportunities in reducing electrical load in those built forms and thus contributing to the future solution for energy crisis.