Illuminance variation prediction for speculative offices

Abstract

The paper examines whether an indication of likely magnitude of illuminance variation in speculative office interiors under conditions of actual use (their 'working state') can be determined using the Standard Obstruction concept. The work studied the work-plane illuminance distribution in two large speculative office buildings. This illuminance distribution was both predicted, using computer software and information available at the design stage, and measured in the actual interiors for a variety of furnishing conditions. The predicted and measured sets of planar illuminance data were compared using statistical techniques and conventional lighting design criteria. The results show that Standard Obstructions can be used to generate an indication of likely illuminance variation on the horizontal working plane of typical speculative offices.