Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

In a whole building, the key element that ensures the relationship between indoor space and the outdoor environment is the window. Given its importance in a whole exchange outside-inside, we must first know its duality of advantage and inconvenience. It is required to perform various functions, and each of these functions is linked to an undesirable effect. In a workspace, daylight and outside views are the most requested window functions as they can reduce energy consumption, decrease stress, and give users a vision on the outdoor conditions. Despite all the innovations related to the modernization and development of window design to make them more efficient; and despite all that a building in a hot and arid zone like the city of Biskra must bring into consideration this provision. We see that window performance is not yet taken into serious consideration by architects and they search for the only quantitative or aesthetic performance. In this regard, the main aim of this study is to: consider the effect of the window on the visual climate within a workspace from a quantitative study using simulation software “radiance” on 06 models of real offices released during an analytical study. More specifically, the goal is to find out the optimum settings related to the window over the ratio of openness and sun protection in order to achieve a perfect visual quality for occupants of office space located in a hot and arid area.