Computational analysis of daylight harvesting scheme in an office building in Mumbai

Designing a building with maximum utilization of daylight and use of energy efficient luminaires will reduce the cost of energy use. In the present study, by means of computer simulations using RELUX software, the interaction between natural and artificial light and the related illumination conditions expected in a commercial office building in Mumbai, India have been simulated and analyzed. In this way, it was possible to evaluate the relevant loads for artificial illumination that has been considered not as the principal but a complementary light source. The main goal of this study is to show the potential of drastically reducing the electrical energy consumptions for illumination, by adopting day lighting harvesting solutions. Comparison were done using two different lighting schemes one with Fluorescent Luminaires and without daylight harvesting and other one with LED fixtures with daylight harvesting using combined occupancy and daylight dimming sensors. With the latter scheme a saving of 80% can be achieved on energy and operating costs for a period over 25 years.