Daylighting for Green Schools: A Resource for Indoor Quality and Energy Efficiency in Educational Environments

Daylight is a fundamental resource to achieve indoor quality and energy efficiency in educational buildings and therefore to improve their sustainability. The study presented in this paper is aimed at defining and testing a method to assess daylighting in classrooms based on performance indicators drawn from literature, standards and green building rating protocols (LEED), and intended as a tool to assess lighting sustainability and drive the retrofit of existing schools into comfortable and energy efficient buildings. The assessment approach is based on both in field analysis and dynamic climate-based simulations. In the paper the results obtained from the application of the method to a case study are presented.