The design of school building typologies, along with the use of advanced glazing systems such as suspended particle devices (SPD), is crucial for determining visual comfort for students. Recent research has focused on integrating SPD in architectural elements such as skylights, clerestories, and windows. In hot desert climates, minimizing window areas, employing shading mechanisms, and utilizing daylighting features such as courtyards and atriums are practical. This study explores the optimization of various architectural components in classroom designs, including Window Wall Ratios (WWR), Skylight Ratios (SR), floor levels, cardinal orientation, and SPD switching states. Using a detailed and comprehensive radiance simulation via Rhino-Grasshopper and Colibri 2.0, we conducted a thorough analysis and optimization of the SPD glazing system across different states on both annual and hourly bases. The results indicate that optimizing SPD transmittance states between 30–40%, maintaining WWRs from 20–40%, and incorporating a large skylight ratio significantly enhances the recommended work plane illuminance (WPI) and the uniformity index (Ui) of the tested typologies. This optimization improves glare control across various building typologies and provides a roadmap for architects aiming to design learning spaces that prioritize visual comfort and overall student well-being.

Mosques, revered as sacred spaces, are distinguished by their sustainable architectural designs. A critical aspect of these designs is the implementation of daylighting strategies, essential for ensuring adequate light levels, particularly for reading the Holy Quran. Traditional daylighting typologies in mosques, such as multi-lateral lighting, clerestories, skylights, and shading devices, are widely recognized. However, the potential application of electrochromic (EC) switchable glazing within mosque architecture remains underexplored. This study delves into the effectiveness of various daylighting typologies, assessing their performance before and after the integration of EC switchable glazing in the Al-Shagroud Mosque located in Saudi Arabia. Employing comprehensive radiance simulations in accordance with the LEEDv4.1 standards, the study evaluates additional metrics including useful daylight illuminance (UDI_{300–3000lux}), workplane illuminance (WPI), uniformity index (Ui), and daylight glare probability (DGP) under multiple scenarios. The results demonstrate that clerestory lighting effectively meets LEEDv4.1 benchmarks but exhibits limitations in achieving uniform light distribution, particularly in the men’s prayer hall. In contrast, the women’s prayer hall benefits from a combination of clerestory lighting and shading devices, which improves light quality and mitigates glare issues. However, the use of skylights without adequate shading leads to excessive WPI and high DGP levels, compromising visual comfort. Moreover, managing daylight quantity and quality through the integration of different typologies, including hybrid models, presents substantial challenges. The integration of EC switchable glazing, while maintaining optimal WPI and reducing DGP, offers enhanced visual comfort in prayer areas. Nevertheless, this technology faces difficulties in ensuring even light distribution, as evidenced by lower uniformity index values. This research highlights the critical need for optimizing daylighting in mosques to balance sustainability and comfort, without detracting from their sacred ambiance.

Electrochromic devices (ECDs) in smart buildings have been advanced as a potential solution for improving energy savings and visual and thermal comfort. The current paper is a review of advanced control strategies for ECDs with respect to predictive, environmental, and adaptive strategies for improving building performance. One of the most frequently employed methods is rule-based control (RBC). RBC is being complemented by more sophisticated model predictive control (MPC) and machine learning (ML) procedures. By adjusting ECD behaviour in dynamic response to changing external circumstances, like daylight, glare, temperature, and solar radiation, these improved techniques ensure a major improvement in real-time adaptivity, energy savings, and occupant comfort. The paper systematically examines ECD control techniques available in the literature, detailing performance indicators, energy conservation, and comfort enhancement for various climatic conditions. It also examines hybrid techniques based on MPC and ML models that tackle the obstacles faced by conventional control systems. Furthermore, their compatibility with renewable energy sources such as PV and thermochromic systems is outlined in relation to net-zero energy buildings. The paper ends with a review of future directions that could lead towards standardization in the form of models, sensor networks and AI-based adaptive frameworks to increase the scale as well as the real-world relevance of ECDs in varying building contexts.

Narrow internal lightwells are often featured in multi-story residential buildings in hot arid climates in order to daylight rooms where direct façade access is not possible, but privacy-driven window closure strongly limits the daylighting potential of these shafts. This paper examines whether three retrofit daylighting strategies—(1) increased shaft wall reflectance, (2) multi-level tubular daylighting devices (MTDDs), and (3) inclined lightwell remodeling with clerestory openings—can retrofit a common residential lightwell in Ha’il City, Saudi Arabia for high performance, high-efficiency daylighting performance under typical privacy-constrained urban conditions. A calibrated daylight model was developed using field measurements of the existing lightwell conditions, and the three retrofit strategies were then evaluated through Radiance-based simulations. The calibrated Radiance model showed good agreement with observations (MBE = −9.6%, RMSE = 17%). It was found that the aged lightwell received less than 0.5% of outdoor daylight in clear summer conditions and that the performance was highly seasonal and orientation-dependent, with 15–20% higher summer peaks in one monitored room, while both rooms remained largely below 100 lx in winter and overcast periods. Simulations determined that the base case results in the ground and first-floor areas remaining comparatively lowly illuminated (UDI_{<100 lx} = 96–100%). The wall reflectance contributed only moderate improvements, while the MTDD strategy was notably effective in improving the daylight availability of lower-floor levels without increasing annual sunlight exposure. The biggest gains (first-floor mean illuminance increasing to 516–952 lx and 100% sDA_300,50% on the second floor) were for the lightwell inclined with clerestory opening type, but an increased risk of over-exposure at upper levels was activated. These findings demonstrate how balancing the needs of daylight autonomy with exposure control shapes the performance of daylight retrofits.