A Novel Approach on Assessing Daylight Access in Schools

Until recently, architects have designed school buildings with the aim of providing optimal conditions in the classrooms. But contemporary focus on environmental issues and energy saving has led to more compact school buildings, where the teaching rooms afford little access to daylight, and where muchof the space designed for teaching lacks windows to the outside. This paper explores the use of the value (FMC, i.e.) façade meters per class spent on classrooms, group study rooms and other main teaching rooms directly attached to these teaching areas. It also shows how this value can reveal key information about a design's daylight accessibility and a project's potential to accommodate future change of layout.