Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) building Survey with UC Berkeley memebrs

The Survey was in May 2015,  and it was a joint activity with the University of California Berkeley visiting group. The survey was for daylight and thermal environment of a building at Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT). The surveyed building is a unique workshop that stands for its open plan, glass facade, and agile appearance. It was designed by Junya Ishigami in 2007, with the concept of having an internal space that mimics the forest and blends with the ambient environment. This concept was achieved by having a fully glazed envelope at all sides and having a scattered structural system that imitates trees. The building is daylit through several strips of glazed skylights. Hence, it was so interesting to survey the daylight patterns and comfort in such one-of-a-kind spaces. Besides, it was interesting to investigate the implications of having such exposure, plus the single glazed and steel construction on the thermal environment. We have found that the building is mostly over lit and users (students) had to adjust the working conditions by adding fabrics to attenuate the daylight either on the skylights or in the glazed curtain walls. The thermal environment and AC basic measurements, aided with subsequent simulations, showed that the building, due to its unprotected and light envelope follows the external environmental conditions. i.e. its temperature starts rising the moment sun shines on it and drops immediately with the sunset. Hence, this building exhausts a tremendous amount of energy in order keeping it at comfort levels.