Lighting quality in office environments is a broad concept that must be taken into account in the design stage to deliver comfortable spaces to reduce workers' stress. Indeed, daylight should be sufficient to perform visual tasks while avoiding excessive brightness, high contrast, or intense sunlight reflections that can cause discomfort glare. This research aims to test the Anidolic Integrated Ceiling (AIC) performance in creating a visually comfortable space by reducing the probability of glare. A combined method was adopted for investigating the influence of the building orientation and the workers' view directions in the different moments of the day in the winter season. Data collection was performed in an experimental environment, i.e., a physical scale model of 1:4 under real sky conditions. Three variables were: (i) the viewer's positions (parallel and face to the window), (ii) the façade orientation, (iii) the time of the day (morning and afternoon). To investigate the correlation between the simulated environment and the subjective comfort, we collected the following data in parallel: illuminance level, Daylight Glare Probability Index (DGIP), Luminance Contrast Ratios (LCR) for assessing the daylighting environments, and people reactions to the lighting setting to evaluate the perceived discomfort glare. The findings indicate that the Anidolic system's performance differs according to the occupant's orientation and her\his visual direction. The performance of the north façade of the case study application in Biskra, Algeria, was the best one. Indeed, the AIC system allows a harmonious luminance distribution without creating discomfort glare. Glare assessment shows that glare is perceived imperceptible in the lateral view (less than 0.30) and varies between imperceptible and perceptible in the parallel view (LCR values between 1:1 and 1:29). The questionnaire results show that the subjects were more satisfied with the luminous atmosphere of the lateral view than the parallel view where people more likely perceived discomfort. The statistical analysis shows that participants' perceptions of contrast and sensitivity to glare have a strong relationship with DGIP and LCR (0.000) and no correlation with illuminance and LCR.

The main challenge for the scientific community is to mitigate climate change impacts while reducing energy consumption, without compromising comfort and quality of life. Buildings in hot climates require specific design strategies to limit the effects of extreme weather and heat waves. Standardized modern buildings, often unsuitable for hot and arid climates, lead to high energy consumption, mainly due to cooling systems, causing both discomfort and energy inefficiency. Previous studies have shown that solutions inspired by local vernacular architecture are often more effective than conventional construction techniques. This paper investigates the thermal response and discomfort intensity in two building models exposed to various climate scenarios: a typical modern residential building and a bioclimatic vernacular-inspired building. The analysis is conducted through dynamic thermal simulations under current as well as future medium- and long-term climate change scenarios. The study evaluates the buildings’ ability to adapt to future environmental changes, an aspect that has not yet been studied in depth. Results show that contemporary buildings experience significantly higher levels of thermal discomfort than vernacular buildings under both present (TMY) and future (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5, 2080) climate conditions. Results show that under the present climate, the vernacular building exhibits about 22% fewer discomfort hours than the contemporary one and roughly half the overheating integrated degree-hours. Under future scenarios, overheating increases by 25.8% to 67.7% in the contemporary building and 36.1% to 89.6% in the vernacular building, yet the vernacular building consistently maintains substantially lower discomfort levels. Overall, vernacular inspired envelopes remain more resilient to warming in all scenarios, but additional adaptation measures are required to ensure acceptable summer comfort by late century.

This study investigates the impact of green spaces on enhancing the thermal microclimate of the Biskra University campus, located in a hot and arid urban environment in southeastern Algeria. Through an experimental approach, air temperature, relative humidity, and airspeed were measured at five distinct points, each representing varying vegetation characteristics. The results reveal that vegetation significantly reduces ambient temperatures, with differences of up to 2.6°C observed between measurement sites. Key findings indicate that cooling efficiency is influenced by several factors, including the type and density of vegetation, the time of day, exposure to solar radiation, and the nature of surrounding surfaces. Among vegetation types, trees demonstrated greater cooling effectiveness than grass, particularly when densely planted. The study concludes that strategic vegetation placement, combined with additional shading structures such as pergolas and well-planned spatial orientation, can significantly improve microclimatic conditions in arid urban environments. These findings underscore the potential of integrating green spaces into urban planning to mitigate heat and enhance thermal comfort in challenging climates.

The daylight evaluation in architectural spaces can be carried out using several tools and methods of investigation and analysis. However, many types of research have proven the usefulness of the scale models to evaluate daylighting system performances in buildings. Several scales of a physical model have been used varying between (1:50) and real scale (1:1), and no comparative study has been done to evaluate the effect of the model size in daylighting assessment. The objective of this investigation is to make a comparison between two different scales of a physical model: the first one is a model with a scale of (1:12) while the second is with the scale of (1: 4), aiming to study the scale effects on daylight perception with models equipped with a daylighting system under very high exterior illuminance levels. The methodology of this study consists in collecting simultaneously the measurement of the exterior and interior illuminance level (lux) and subjective evaluations from a questionnaire survey with the two scale models (1:4 and 1:12) under real sky conditions. A correlation between collected data has been explored. Comparing the measurement results, it is obvious that the quantity of light that penetrates the test models (1:4 and 1:12) was the same. The results are with a range of ±1.6%. Moreover, survey results show that the participants’ perceptions regarding satisfaction, light distribution and glare questions differ with the scale of the physical 3D model. The subjects felt more satisfied with the luminous atmosphere with the physical model of (1:4) compared with the model of (1:12).

This research aims to analyze the physical, morphological, and climatological factors that determine the thermal environment along “Ben Bou Laïd” Avenue in the city of Sétif, Algeria, and within its urban canyons, as well as the capacity of this environment to accommodate activities and uses and to sustain occupancy over space and time. Attention to occupancy constituted the guiding thread of our methodology. A quantitative and qualitative approach was adopted in the case study. First, field observations were conducted during different hours of the day. Then, in situ measurements of thermal parameters, including ambient air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), and wind speed (Va), were collected. Simultaneously, a survey of different users was conducted, followed by an exhaustive assessment of occupancy patterns and their spatial distribution during the same measurement periods. The results show the impact of morphological parameters and their effects separately and simultaneously on the creation of the microclimate, and that they significantly impact occupancy dynamics, in their density and distribution mode in space and time. Although shade is cited as a criterion for choosing spaces by only 14.17% of respondents, observation revealed that a shaded setting (under a gallery, under tree canopy, etc.) remains the most favored location during nearly all of the observed time slots, and it is indeed there that the longest stays are recorded. However, the occupancy patterns observed reveal that they cannot be attributed solely to thermal factors, as several other parameters should also be considered in future research.