The impact of windows on visual perception in office spaces in hot and humid tropical climates

Abstract

Daylighting is beneficial for buildings and their occupants; however, in tropical climates, daylight is often excessive, and it is a source of glare and cause of frequent use of artificial lighting. With the objective of analysing the influence of windows and daylighting on visual perception in workplaces, this study was conducted in two office buildings in the city of João Pessoa, state of Paraíba, Brazil: illuminance at desk level was recorded at 219 workstations, simultaneously to a questionnaire application. The wide range of illuminance indices (from 6,77 to 2620,4 lux) demonstrates the difficulty of achieving uniform conditions that are in conformity with the standards, with recurrent indices around 750 lux leading to 30,15% of occupants’ dissatisfaction. Internal shading elements predominated in the ‘closed’ position and a low percentage of activation by users (22,94%), since the frequency of activation was related to device proximity. The results suggest that windows may be related with high dissatisfaction with daylight when they allow excessive incidence of sunlight, especially when associated with east-facing facades with no external solar protection.