This study investigates the diurnal, seasonal, monthly and temporal variation of land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) over the Isfahan metropolitan area, Iran, during 2003–2019 using MODIS data. It also examines the driving factors of SUHII like cropland, built-up areas (BI), the urban–rural difference in enhanced vegetation index (ΔEVI), evapotranspiration (ΔET), and white sky albedo (ΔWSA). The results reveal the presence of urban cool islands during the daytime and urban heat islands at night. The maximum SUHII was observed at 22:30 p.m., while the minimum was at 10:30 a.m. The summer months (June to September) show higher SUHII compared to the winter months (February to May). The daytime SUHII demonstrates a robust positive correlation with cropland and ΔWSA, and a negative correlation with ΔET, ΔEVI, and BI. The nighttime SUHII displays a negative correlation with ΔET and ΔEVI.

The main aim of this article is to analyze the precision of several lighting simulation programs regularly used in daylighting studies for architecture, following the methodology established in the CIE test cases document. The 3DS Max Design 2014, Daylight Visualizer 2.6, DaySim 3.1b, Design Builder 3.0, Dialux 4.8, Ecotect Analysis 2011, Lightscape 3.2 and Relux Pro programs are analyzed. In order to establish the precision for each program, the sky component is measured at different points of study on the floor of a room, taking variable sizes and positions of openings into consideration. The results are contrasted with the analytical calculation of the sky component using Tregenza algorithms and the test cases established by the CIE, considering the models for Traditional and Standard Overcast Sky. Following the analysis of the sky component using the CIE test cases, it is concluded that the 3DS Max Design 2014 and Daylight Visualizer 2.6 programs present a maximum relative difference from the analytical model of close to 10%, while the DaySim 3.1b, Dialux 4.8 and Lightscape 3.2 programs show a margin of relative error lower than 30% in all case studies. Design Builder 3.0, Ecotect Analysis 2011 and Relux Pro show inadequate results.

This paper analyses the influence of different perforated solar screens (PSS) in annual daylight conditions expressed using climate-based daylight metrics. The PSS design require parametric studies that are often complex and time consuming due to a large number of simulations. Hence, a new methodology is proposed to optimize PSS design by applying Design of Experiments using Orthogonal Arrays (DOA). A case study from the DOA perspective has been conducted, which involves an office space in Seville, Spain. The goal is to assess the effect of the following PSS design variables in daylighting performance: perforation percentage, matrix, shape and orientation. DOA results reveal that optimized PSS can increase daylit area by 33% and reduce over lit area by 35%, compared with reference models with no PSS. DOA method reduces the number of simulations from the 256 required to 16, so it could save time during the initial stages of building design.