COMPUTATIONAL DAYLIGHT SIMULATION AND THE PARAMETERIZATION OF REFLECTIVE SHIELDS: A CASE STUDY OF EVOLUTIONARY OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURES IN ORDER TO INCREASE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AN EXPERIMENTAL BUILDING NEAR THE EQUATOR José Aderson Araújo Passos Filho Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). aderson.passos@gmail.com Nayana Helena Barbosa de Castro Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). nayanahelena@gmail.com Natasha Maria Catunda Torres Mota Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). n.catunda@gmail.com Karoline Cordeiro de Andrade Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). karolinecordeiro.arquiteta@gmail.com Bruno de Paiva y Raviolo Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). bruno.raviolo@gmail.com Daniel Ribeiro Cardoso Universidade Federal do Ceará  Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo  Laboratório de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão em Projeto Digital (LED). danielcardoso@ufc.br Abstract: This paper presents the results of an investigation on advanced solutions for passive daylight harvesting as part of a research on energy efficiency that aims at the development of the architectural design of an experimental building near the equator, precisely in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Parametric customized solar protection alternatives for zenithal inlets, here called “reflective shields”, are optimized through the use of genetic algorithms in order to set the best positions for the openings and distancing, shapes and sizes for these elements, with successful comparisons to recommended illuminance levels. Keywords: Daylighting, Computational Simulation, Parametric Modeling, Genetic Algorithms INTRODUCTION This paper presents the results of an investigation on advanced solutions for passive daylight harvesting as part of a research on energy efficiency that aims at the development of the architectural design of an experimental building which will serve as headquarters for a company in the brazilian state of Ceará, one of the most equatorial regions of the country. Accordingly, one of the strategies for designing sustainable and energy efficient buildings in locations of high daylight intensity (specifically, with a diffuse sky illuminance level mean of 30 klux [1]) is to decrease the use of artificial lighting, responsible for 40% of electrical energy consumption in office buildings [7], by making use of sunlight without compromising other comfortrelated variables, such as the low amount of solar heat absorbed by interior spaces of buildings in high temperature climates. The chosen architectural typology for the developed building design consists in that of onestory offices, based on corporative standards, roofed by a waffle slab as a second layer of thermal protection along with regular plasterboard roofs for internal encapsulated spaces. Many workstations were placed in central portions of the layout and enclosed in glass bulkheads, away from vertical openings in 1