Influence of the Traditional Residential Building Eaves on the Indoor Light Environment

Noticing the large eaves and the insufficient indoor lighting in the traditional residential buildings in the south Shaanxi province of China, this paper analyzies the relationship between the eaves and the indoor light environment of such buildings. Length of roof eaves, height of cornices, and areas of external windows are selected as three main influential factors for discussion. Numerical simulation was conducted using Ecotect software to understand relationship between indoor lighting performance and the three factors. The results show that, with a fixed window area, the average illumination coefficient is decreased along with the increase of the length of roof eaves, which means that the greater the length of the eaves, the greater negative impact on the indoor lighting environment.