Daylight & Solar Analysis

Daylight and solar performance are assessed differently depending on what’s driving the requirement, a BREEAM credit, a DfE technical submission, or a facade design that needs to balance solar gain against daylight. We carry out all of the assessments below using dynamic simulation in IES Virtual Environment, whichever one applies to your project.

Which Assessment Does Your Project Need?

Standard daylight adequacy: assessed through daylight factor analysis, the standard method for checking a room receives enough well-distributed daylight, whether for BREEAM, planning, or general design assurance.

BREEAM projects: daylighting forms part of the HEA01 credit, assessed using the same daylight factor methodology against BREEAM’s specific thresholds and uniformity criteria.

School projects: assessed under climate based daylight modelling, the method required by the DfE’s Technical Manual, using a full year of weather data rather than a single fixed sky condition.

Facade and glazing design: assessed through solar gain analysis and facade optimisation, quantifying heat gain through the facade and balancing it against daylight, cooling load and overheating risk.

Not sure which applies to your project? Get in touch and we’ll confirm the right route before any modelling starts.


Daylight Factor

Does your project need something else?