Indoor light environment testing and simulation of improvement measures for traditional cave dwelling architecture

The indoor light environment in the traditional cave dwelling architecture that is still widely used today is generally poor, which seriously affects the comfort and health of residents. On-site measurements of indoor illuminance, daylighting coefficient, and illuminance uniformity parameters show that even under natural light at 12:00 noon, the indoor illuminance and daylighting coefficient of the cave dwelling are only 150.5 (lx) and 1.35%, respectively, and the uniformity of illumination is also poor, which must be improved to enhance the comfort and health of residents. By conducting simulation research for influencing factors (daylighting coefficient and window area, window sill height and glass transmission ratio, window-to-floor ratio) of the light environment in the cave dwelling with Ecotect Analysis software, the simulation results showed that the illuminance and daylighting coefficient of the kiln house during natural lighting were increased by 64.4% and 105%, respectively. However, the light uniformity is still low, and artificial light sources should be added as a supplement. The effect of surface-mounted artificial light sources was better, which could increase illuminance uniformity and mixed illuminance uniformity by 363.3% and 358.3%, respectively, ensuring the uniformity of indoor illuminance.