Visual Comfort, Discomfort Glare, and Occupant Fenestration Control: Developing a Research Agenda

ABSTRACT

This article compares and contrasts existing and emerging discomfort glare analysis metrics that can be used to predict occupants’ acceptance of and preference for competing design solutions and to evaluate the likelihood of manual blind deployment or automated blind overrides upon occupancy. It documents and synthesizes how discomfort glare and other factors affect the use of both manually controlled and automated blinds in buildings with vertical fenestration, based on a review of several laboratory and field studies. Finally, this article identifies current knowledge gaps; defines a prioritized list of research needs of the lighting, daylighting, and architectural fields; and suggests potential future research modes that may lead to new breakthroughs in order to minimize discomfort glare while promoting occupant visual preference and whole-building energy efficiency.

KEYWORDS:

• Daylight
• visual comfort
• discomfort glare
• manual blind control
• automated blind control

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank the IES Research Committee and IES Daylight Metrics Committee for valued guidance and feedback. Additionally, I thank Julia Day and Dr. Ery Djunaedy from the University of Idaho Integrated Design Lab for their support during this research. I would also like to thank Dr. Mark Changizi for his collaboration and contributions to this article. Finally, thanks are due to Alstan Jakubiec and Lisa Heschong for their review and comment.