Are you teaching architecture?

Recent research [1] at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design suggests that to effectively teach newcomers how to interpret the results of building performance simulation, the curriculum must include:

• The underlying physical fundamentals
• The limitations of simulation programs
• Various design exercises

In this spirit, Christoph Reinhard has recently completed the Daylighting Handbook I, Designing with the Sun.

Designing with the Sun explains some of the concepts that DIVA, a daylighting and energy modeling plug-in for Rhino, is based on.

The book provides a general introduction to daylighting implementation and explains how light allows us to perceive the world and to maintain our circadian rhythm. It may help apply DIVA more effectively in practice or education.

Chapters discuss

• Design analysis techniques and metrics.
• Methods for measuring solar radiation.
• How to measure light.
• A practical approach to building massing via rules of thumb.
• Methods for determining the sun's location in the sky.
• Designing static shading devices.
• How to use pysical models, including Heliodon studies.

More information can be found at www.DaylightingHandbook.com. The book is available on Amazon.com.


[1] Diego Ibarra, 2014, "An educational framework for building performance simulations in early design," Doctorate Thesis, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, May 2014, pp. 223.