Measurement and Analysis of the Annual Daylighting Performance of a Middle School in North Carolina

This paper evaluates the measured annual daylighting performance of the Northern Guilford Middle School at Greensboro, North Carolina. A side-daylighting strategy that employs a unique curved interior translucent light-shelf is used in the classrooms. The measured average annual illuminance under clear sky conditions is about 100 foot-candles. However, there is great variation in the space illuminance from season to season. The building occupants react to this variation in ways that cannot be controlled and this ultimately determines how well the design works. Along with the annual measurements, two tests were performed on the side-lit design to determine the effects of individual design elements. The results from these experiments as well as those from the computer modeling of a typical classroom using the side-lit strategy at Northern Guilford are presented in this paper. These results may be extended to any day-lit space with an interior translucent element, located on similar latitude and a comparable solar radiation profile.