Abstract
Purpose: This study questioned the efficiency of daylight factor as a daylight adequacy and investigated a method of how to complement its weakness by considering a direct sunlight component under a clear sky condition. Method: The Snowdon visitor centre cafe was chosen as a case study building and various techniques such as BRE formula, BRE sky protractor, Pilkington dot diagram and mock-upscale model under the artificial sky simulator were used to analyse and compare daylight factor values. An analysis of direct sunlight component under the clear sky condition was carried out by Climate Consultant 5.5, sun path diagram, and the artificial sky simulator. Result: The result of daylight factor analysis differed by the adopted techniques and it was also contradictory to the results on a direct sunlight penetration. The result not only showed the limitation of daylight factor as a metric but also suggested an improvement by combining it with direct sunlight analysis. The techniques used in this study had a merit of being applied in the early design stage and thus be beneficial to many design professions in order for early daylight performance analysis.