An investigation into the risk of night light pollution in a glazed office building: The effect of shading solutions.

Abstract Light pollution has been recognised as a major environmental problem in urban areas at night. This study presents an investigation into the impact of seven various shading solutions on the risk of light pollution caused by indoor artificial lighting in a fully glazed office building. Radiance, a ray-tracing package, was adopted to calculate external illuminances produced by indoor lighting applications at various positions. It has been determined that: 1) A glazed façade could become a critical source of light pollution or obtrusive light (sky glow and light trespass) due to applications of indoor lighting at night; 2) A light shelf could perform well on the protection of both light trespass and sky glow; 3) A large overhang and horizontal louvre could effectively lower the risk of light trespass, but would possibly cause the deterioration of sky glow; and 4) No significant impact of short overhang and vertical louvre can be found on the two aspects of light pollution. This study exposes a significant implication; apart from their principal functions, the shading devices applied in a largely glazed building may require a new role in controlling obtrusive light in cities at night. Highlights • Investigation of night light pollution risk of glazed buildings in cities. • Impact of various shading solutions on the emitting light from glazed facade. • Ray-tracing analysis of intensities and distributions of the artificial lighting. • Comparisons of upward light and light trespass risk between various shading solutions. • Recommendation of shading applications in terms of light pollution in glazed buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]