Contemporizing and Optimizing the Patterns of Iran’s Traditional Skylights (Shabak) in Using and Improving the Quality of Daylight in Office Space

Zabihi, Ali; Mirzaei, Reza; Yazhari Kermani, Ali; Heydari, Ahmad

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2025.2030731.1220

Contemporizing and Optimizing the Patterns of Iran’s Traditional Skylights (Shabak) in Using and Improving the Quality of Daylight in Office Space

Document Type : Case Study

Authors

Ali Zabihi ¹

Reza Mirzaei ²

Ali Yazhari Kermani ³

Ahmad Heydari ²

¹ Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Art and Architecture, College of Architecture, Birjand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Architecture, College of Architecture, Birjand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Architecture, College of Architecture, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2025.2030731.1220

Abstract

A large share of energy consumption in office buildings is due to lighting. Energy efficiency improvements are currently attained through strategies that cut artificial lighting by intelligently utilizing daylight. Providing daylight and controlling glare in office buildings has always posed significant challenges for designers. In this regard, skylights play a crucial role in enhancing building performance by improving both daylight efficiency and occupants' visual comfort. The Shabak skylight, one of Iran's architectural elements, significantly provides light and intelligently uses daylight. This study explores Shabak skylight patterns that optimize performance to control daylight and glare transferred from windows. The research method of this study is descriptive and analytical. In addition to library and field studies, Rhino software, Grasshopper, Ladybug, and Honeybee plugins are used for simulation, and finally, a genetic algorithm is used for contemporizing and optimization. The results indicate that three main parameters (absorption point position, absorption impact radius, and scale of apertures) are effective in daylight gain, and variations in these parameters based on the optimized plan would lead to a 55% increase in useful illuminance of daylight and a 17.25% reduction in glare annually. The results of this study can be useful for applying these elements based on modern architecture regarding optimal optimization. By sharing their findings on the best methods to evaluate the performance of potential designs, this study will be valuable for architects designing Light-transmitting wall and patterned shade screens in similar climates.

Graphical Abstract

Contemporizing and Optimizing the Patterns of Iran’s Traditional Skylights (Shabak) in Using and Improving the Quality of Daylight in Office Space

Highlights

Optimizing the Shabak skylight indicates a considerable increase in useful daylight illuminance in base Shabak mode and particularly optimized Shabak rather than the current mode. It has also led to a reduction in the amount of glare, which can be considered the most important achievement of this research.
The absorption point's location and the absorption effect's radius are not the only factors that affect the lighting performance, but the aperture scale affects the daylight performance of buildings.
It is possible to make the Shabaks intelligent and turn them into a fully automatic system to respond to environmental changes.

Keywords

Daylight

Glare

Office Buildings

Optimization

Shabak Skylight

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