componentsdaylight

Componentsdaylight is a term used in daylighting design and environmental architecture to describe the decomposition of natural light into its constituent components for analysis and design. In practice, it treats daylight as the sum of several components: direct sunlight from the sun, diffuse skylight scattered by the atmosphere, ground-reflected light from surfaces, and interreflected light within an enclosure. Each component has distinct temporal and spatial behavior and spectral characteristics, which helps designers evaluate visual comfort and energy performance.

In modeling workflows, componentsdaylight provides a framework for separating and quantifying these contributions. Direct sunlight is highly directional and causes solar gains and potential glare; diffuse skylight provides general illumination from the sky dome; interreflected light accounts for light bouncing between surfaces; ground-reflected light adds additional illumination from the ground and nearby surroundings. By isolating components, engineers can study how shading devices, glazing, and interior geometry influence daylight distribution and energy use.

Applications include daylight autonomy assessment, glare management, solar heat gain estimation, and lighting energy saving. The approach is used with climate data, sky models, and radiance-based simulation tools, allowing comparisons across designs and locations. While useful, componentsdaylight is an abstraction and relies on simplifying assumptions about sky conditions, surface properties, and material reflectance.

See also daylighting, solar radiation, sky models, and energy performance of buildings.