Solar-shading systems designed to increase user satisfaction in public buildings, a case study of Britam Towers in Nairobi, Kenya

Solar-shading systems play various roles to the users of public buildings and may vary from user to user but some of the common user’s needs for these systems include; thermal comfort, energy-saving, daylight, and glare reduction. Understanding these needs can help Designers and Architects select from a wide array of Solar-Shading types and see which of them serves the needs of the users better. The Types of Solar-Shading Systems include either internal systems which are placed inside the building or can include external systems which are placed to the outside of buildings. To clearly understand the role Solar Shading Systems, play to satisfy Users’ needs, a case study of a Public Building in Nairobi, Kenya; Britam Towers, was selected. The case study found out that architects, designers, and developers play a preeminent role in coming up with projects that can better serve the User’s needs by creating designs that better suit the needs of the users have for using such Solar-Shading Systems. These designs may vary from building to building, region to region but the main withstanding factor to be noted is the functionality issue, as the Solar-Shading Systems should be able to meet the needs of users effectively and in turn, increase the user’s satisfaction.

LED Lighting Installations in Professional Stadiums: Energy Efficiency, Visual Comfort, and Requirements of 4K TV Broadcast

Nowadays, LED lighting technology reaches a higher Value of Energy Efficiency in Installations (VEEI) (W/m2*100 lux) than current luminaire lighting due to the number of lumens per watt that these are able to generate, as well as the directional nature of their emissions together with the adjustment capability through concentrator lenses with beam graduations that reach 5º. This achieves energy savings of up to 80%. Furthermore, also considering the substantial decrease in flickers, and that it noticeably improves usage of ultra-slow-motion cameras and the fading of switching-on or rearm times upon failure, LED technology stands out as the main solution for illumination of professional sports facilities. This article describes the evolution of regulatory requirements that are being imposed by the governing institutions of sports (FIFA, UEFA, FIBA, etc.) and professional leagues (LaLiga, Euroliga, etc.) in order to guarantee their competence as high-quality television products. In addition, the trends in requirements and specifications regarding lighting equipment and its installation, which are intended to convert stadiums into optimized centers for the celebration and dissemination of mass events, are analyzed (settings, photometry, etc.), particularly those concerning horizontal, vertical, and camera illuminance, average and extreme uniformities, glare, reduction of intrusive light in bleachers, flickers, color rendering index (CRI), correlated color temperature (CCT), and start-up times.

Synthesis of MgF2 Nanoparticles for Improved Anti-Reflective Coating

Anti-reflective (AR) coatings are popular because they offer high durability with effective reflectance and glare reduction, and they can endure both physical and environmental damage. Magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) has been used as a nanoparticle coating on AR coating materials by many researchers because they exhibit high transmittance and antireflection characteristics in the visible region, due to its low refractive index. When using MgF₂ nanoparticles on a coated AR film, however, a binder is needed to improve abrasion resistance because the binding strength between particles is weak. In this study, AR coating films were prepared by adding MgTFA as a precursor to improve the adhesion resistance of the AR coating films. The AR coating films were characterized by UV-Vis, XRD, TEM, as well as viscosity and abrasion tests. The binder added to MgF₂ to improve the bonding strength between the particles showed excellent durability. The MgF₂ with added binder had a stronger film strength than a binderless MgF₂ film, even at low drying temperatures. It also exhibited lower reflectance. These characteristics are expected to be valuable for camera lenses, for thin films that require high light extraction efficiency, and in anti-reflection films on solar cell surfaces.

Domus method for predicting sunlit areas on interior surfaces

This pilot study aims to analyze the solar radiation transmission, daylight performance and glare reduction probability of complex shape solar control devices, developed with parametric modeling and digital fabrication. As methodology, initially the Rhinoceros3D+Grasshopper digital tools suite was used for the parametric modeling of solar control devices. Performance evaluations were performed by computational simulation and measurements in prototypes. For the simulations, the Diva-for-Rhino and Ladybug plug-ins were used. For the measurements, through digital fabrication, a prototype used for glare evaluations through HDR photographs was made. As main results, the solar control devices contributed to the control of solar radiation admission, better daylight distribution and glare reduction in the indoor analysis environment, confirming the reliability of the methodological procedures employed. It is important to highlight the effects of depth and inclination of the devices analyzed, respectively on the daylight distribution and selectivity in the admission of solar radiation between winter and summer. Finally, the shading masks show that despite all the development of modeling and simulation tools, the simple understanding of the solar geometry is still essential for the adequate performance of the solar control devices.