Assessing Daylighting Performance and Visual Comfort of Shopping Malls in the Province of Cavite, Philippines
Abstract:
In the tropical Philippines, shopping malls serve as cooling centers and cultural hubs, remaining vital even during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, their traditional enclosed designs often limit natural light integra tion. Retail experts advocate "demalling," which introduces daylight into retail spaces to foster connections between people and nature. While daylighting research is prevalent in offices and schools, shopping malls remain underexplored. This study evaluates daylighting strategies—Clerestory, Floor-to-Ceiling, and Skylight windows—focusing on visual comfort in Cavite's malls. Using surveys, HDR luminance mapping, and simu lations, the study links user perceptions to luminance levels. Results show visual comfort depends more on the interaction of daylight with indoor elements than glare. Effective navigation mitigates occasional glare discomfort. For instance, Imus Mall’s clerestory windows achieve optimal illuminance (100–3000 lux), enhancing visual comfort and reducing artificial lighting depen dence. Conversely, Bacoor Mall’s strategies provide less than 15% useful daylighting, with most areas falling below or exceeding optimal illuminance, highlighting the need for improvement. Recommended thresholds for optimal comfort are clerestory windows below 520 cd/m², skylights under 2250 cd/m², and floor-to-ceil ing windows between 1600–5300 cd/m². These values, tailored for dynamic user environments like malls, can guide designs for improved comfort. Integrating these thresholds and using daylighting simulation tools during the design phase can significantly enhance visual satisfaction in Philippine malls.
