Testing glare in universal space design studios in Al-Ain, UAE desert climate and proposed improvements

Previous studies by the author revealed several issues with regard to daylighting levels and glare problems in the new building of the architectural engineering department at UAE University and proposed solutions. This study investigates mainly the use of reflective light shelf to reduce glare problems and redistribute daylight in the ground floor studio space of the case study. Several slopes of light shelf along with other design parameters were tested on March 21 at 10:00AM using serial testing improvement approach, based on comparisons between pretest and posttest results. Other parameters were also tested, as ways to improving the performance of the light shelf, such as the height of the light shelf, the slope of the ceiling, and the type/existence of the front north partition. Both Radiance and Ecotect programs were used to simulate the required design configurations. The 5°-sloped roof performed better than the horizontal roof and improved the performance of the light shelf. Removing the north partition has the potential to improve glare on the rear space, yet it creates glare problems on the front side. Future testing is needed to investigate this problem.