Proportion and daylighting in buildings - Evaluation of the use of the Golden Section as an auxiliary tool for architectural design.

• Grant number: 13/16615-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2013
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Sergio Scarazzato
• Grantee: Juliano Coronato Beraldo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The harmonic proportions, throughout the history of architecture, have been considered able to attribute to buildings beauty and plastic quality.This research intends to investigate if these relations of proportion are also appropriate to achieve a more efficient harnessing of natural light.Due to its importance to the energy balance of buildings, both for being a parameter by itself, as a factor in calculation of the thermal behavior, the daylighting is the appropriate field to the development of this study.Using the existent knowledge, through the appliance of a method of analysis of the use of daylight in buildings which is stablished and accepted by the scientific community as suitable for the intended investigation, a case study, which have been previously monitored regarding its daylighting behavior, will be simulated.After the calibration of the simulation model with the measured real case, changes will be made in the model according to an harmonic proportion pattern, followed by its respective daylight simulations. The results will be compared and analyzed with the intention of achieving the objective of this research.This study may represent an advance toward a re-approach, with regard to the design of energy-efficient buildings, to the principles historically associated as capable of adding aesthetic quality for architecture with the current needs of a functional design, forged by concerns of quantity and performance within the demands of standards and labels for evaluation of buildings energy behavior.