Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST)

Course Description

Every façade decision affects the light inside the building. This course provides architects and building design professionals with practical knowledge of daylight performance and solar gain management, covering daylight factor, useful daylight illuminance, solar heat gain coefficient (g-value), and total solar energy transmittance – and explaining how these metrics relate to energy performance regulations and environmental certification schemes. You’ll learn to navigate the trade-offs inherent in façade design: increasing glazing area improves daylight but raises solar gain and cooling demand; reducing g-value controls overheating but can darken interiors. The course demonstrates how glass selection, façade orientation, reveal depth, and external shading devices interact to determine the balance between daylight, thermal comfort, and energy performance. Presented by Eugene Korch (façade engineer and IAST Programme Director), the course uses real project scenarios – south-facing residential, deep-plan office, and mixed-use atrium – to demonstrate how façade configuration directly influences overheating risk and energy performance outcomes. Through parametric studies and glass performance data tables, this course equips you to evaluate the daylight and solar implications of façade specification choices early in the design process, before detailed simulation confirms or contradicts your assumptions.