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BEAM P
LUS FOR
N
EW
B
UILDINGS
I
NDOOR
E
NVIRONMENTAL
Q
UALITY
(I
EQ
)
V
ERSION
1.2
I
EQ
15 N
ATURAL
L
IGHTING
Copyright © 2012 BEAM Society Limited. All rights reserved.
Page 174
Hong Kong, surrounding buildings shall be included in the model.
B
ACKGROUND
Access to daylight is an important aspect of building design from the
perspectives of comfort and health. Critical to providing sufficient daylight
is the provision of a view of the sky. The amount of daylight available for
specific rooms is related to:
window and room geometry and room surface finishes;
sky obstruction due to the form of the building and its overshadowing
from neighbouring buildings; and
glazing transmittance.
In Hong Kong’s congested built form rooms on lower floors of buildings
may be considerably overshadowed by the built form. This can result in
significantly reductions in natural light, and will incur increased electricity
consumption for artificial lighting, and degradation of internal comfort and
health conditions. It is possible to take into account the overshadowing
by adjacent buildings using appropriate design tools.