An interactive performance-based expert system for daylighting design

PhD candidate J. Gagne from MIT and Prof. Marilyne Andersen from the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Performance-Integrated Design developed and tested a computational framework that acts as a virtual daylighting consultant, assisting architects in optimizing the quantity and the quality of daylight that enters a building. Starting from an initial architectural design and a set of daylighting objectives, the software suggests a series of design modifications that are likely to lead to improvements in daylighting performance, which the architect can either accept of reject. They presented their approach at the Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) conference in Belgium and received the Best Paper Award for their work. Currently they are investing development efforts into making this a robust simulation platform to bridge with architectural practice and education.