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Solar And Shadows Analysis In Ecotect

Tiziano Dalla Mora

INDEX

SOLAR ACCESS ANALYSIS – INCIDENT SOLAR RADIATION ................................................................................. 2

CUMULATIVE INSOLATION ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 9

SURFACE ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................... 15

SHADING, OVERSHADING AND SOLAR HOURS ........................................................................................... 17

SOLAR RADIATION ....................................................................................................................................... 18

NO SUBDIVIDED SURFACE ........................................................................................................................... 19

SOLAR EXPOSURE ............................................................................................................................................ 19

SHADOW RANGE ............................................................................................................................................. 21

SUN PATH ........................................................................................................................................................ 22

SUN PATH SETTINGS .................................................................................................................................... 24

RIGHT TO LIGHT ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................. 29

STEP 1-CHECK SOLAR ENVELOPE ................................................................................................................. 30

STEP 2 - CALCULATE VERTICAL SKY COMPONENTS ..................................................................................... 35

SHADING DESIGN ............................................................................................................................................. 41

PROJECT SOLAR SHADING POLENTIAL ......................................................................................................... 45

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SOLAR ACCESS ANALYSIS – INCIDENT SOLAR RADIATION

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In case of more detailed calculation, select only one surface and a detailed shading simulation:

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CUMULATIVE INSOLATION ANALYSIS Creating Surface Subdivisions

In order to analyse the variation of incident solar radiation across the surfaces of a building, it is necessary

to divide up those surfaces into smaller subdivisions for the analysis.

1. Select the plane as shown in the screenshot. Then go to the Modify»Surface

Subdivisions»Rectangular Tiles... menu item.

Select the plane as shown.

2. The following dialogue box appears - here you can specify the size of the surface subidivisions, and

how they are tiled across the selected surface. Use the settings are shown in the screenshot, and

then click Ok.

Use the following settings for the surface subdivision.

3. The following error message may appear.

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Click Ok to continue.

Click Ok to continue anyway. When you do, Ecotect generates the surfaces subdivisions on the current

zone. Create a new zone and relocate the subdivisions to this zone in order to have more control over how

the subdivisions are displayed.

The selected plane is now subdivided.

4. Select the subdivisions, and go to the Calculate»Solar Access Analysis... menu item. The following

wizard appears. Choose the Incident Solar Radiation radio option and click Next.

Select Incident Solar Radiation and click Next.

5. Choose the calculation period. For the purposes of this tutorial, choose the For Current Day option

and click Next.

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Select For Current Day and then click Next.

6. On the next screen, choose the Cumulative Values radio option and click Next.

Select Cumulative Values and click Next.

7. Under the Objects in Model radio option, check the Only use selected objects checkbox and then

click Next.

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Check the Selected Objects only checkbox and click Next.

8. Choose the Use Existing Shading Masks radio option and click Next.

Select Use Existing Shading Masks and click Next.

9. Ecotect summarises your selections in the following dialogue box. Make any necessary

adjustments, and then click Ok to proceed.

Check your selections and click Ok to proceed.

10. Ecotect calculates the incident solar radiation using the settings you have specified. Depending

upon the speed of your computer, this calculation may take several minutes. Once complete, it

looks something like the following screenshot :

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Ecotect calculates the incident solar radiation for the subdivided surface.

11. Note the legend shown on the right-hand side of the 3D editor window, which you can use to

visually determine the amount incident solar radiation for each subdivision. Numerical values can

also be displayed using Show Text Values checkbox found in the Display Settings' control panel.

Show Text Values.

12. While you're there, check the Show Vectors checkbox, and then switch to the Visualise page.

Ecotect generates a relative vector based on the values calculated.

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Select Show Vectors and then go to the Visualise page.

13. Use the Copy View to Clipboard button found near the bottom-right corner of the application

window to export the image to another application, such as Microsoft Word or Photoshop.

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SURFACE ANALYSIS Select a surface, MODIFY / SURFACE SUBDIVISION / RECTANGULAR TILES

Set the properties:

Move the grid into a new zone

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In case of window

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SHADING, OVERSHADING AND SOLAR HOURS This is the calculation of the SOLAR ACCESS ANALYSIS / SHADING, OVERSHADING AND SOLAR HOURS / FOR

SPECIFIC PERIOD / CUMULATIVE VALUES / ONLY OBJECT ON MODEL (only selected, clear other) /

PERFORMED SHADING CALCULATION / LOW RESOLUTION

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SOLAR RADIATION The same is applied in case of calculation of the SOLAR RADIATION

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NO SUBDIVIDED SURFACE In case of selection of an object like a window, the calculation of SHADING. OVERSHADOWING AND

SUNLIGHT HOURS is given

SOLAR EXPOSURE Select an object

CALCULATE / SOLAR EXPOSURE

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Click CALCULATE

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SHADOW RANGE

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SUN PATH

Select a POINT from MODELLING TOOLBAR, as reference point for shading evaluations.

CALCULATE / SUN PATH DIAGRAM

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SUN PATH SETTINGS CALCULATE SHADING

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SHADING COEFFICIENT FOR WINDOW

Select a WINDOW / CALCULATE / SUN DIAGRAM

CALCULATE SHADING and OVERSHADOWING PERCENTAGE

if the sky is divided into a number of segments, it could be check to see how much of the line was 'visible'

from each sky segment. In this way it could display the shading as a series of radial squares with each

showing the percentage shading. The diagram shows the sky divided into 5°x5° segments and the

percentage of the window sill line visible from each sky segment. So,there are now many different and

smoother degrees of shading.

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Visualize SHOW IN VISUALISE PAGE

Show HOURLY SUN POSITION

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SHOW SHADING COEFFICIENT

The SHADING COEFFICIENT value indicates the % of surface exposed to the sun, in this case it should be as

minor as possible.

CALCULATE SHADING and SOLAR STRESS DIRECT + DIFFUSE

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The resulting incident radiation map shows not only where in the sky the majority of incident solar

radiation is coming from, but when because it is mapped onto a sun-path diagram.

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RIGHT TO LIGHT ANALYSIS DISPLAY / SURFACE NORMALS

Make sure that normal vector goes outside

SELECT A SURFACE (window) / CALCULATE / RIGHT TO LIGHT ANALYSIS

It is possible to select also a line on the ground

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STEP 1-CHECK SOLAR ENVELOPE

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In case of existent window, select NO because of the height is already fixed; in case of line on ground it

should be preferred to select YES.

The selection of 1 or 2 option depends on the case, the site boundary and the contest, read the note on left

box.

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On 3D editor visualization, SELECT the plane, REVERSE the normal toward UP, RIGHT BOTTON / CUTTING

PLANE / ASSIGN OBJECT

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SELECT all surface of the TOWER OBJECT, RIGHT BOTTON / CUTTING PLANE / TRIM or EXTEND SELECTION /

TRIM or PROFILE in order to modify the geometry of the contest

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STEP 2 - CALCULATE VERTICAL SKY COMPONENTS

HIDE THE ZONE in front of a specific surface / wall / window

Divide a SURFACE into a RECTANGULAR TILE

Select CALCULATE / RIGHT TO LIGHT ANALYSIS

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Now, SHOW the hidden zone and REPEAT the same calculation on the surface, pay attention to STEP 5

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At the end of the simulation, a report describes a comparison between the two simulations

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The results are shown in different views:

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SHADING DESIGN Select a window

GENERATE OPTIMISED SHADING DEVICE

Select CALCULATE / SHADING DESIGN WIZARD / GENERATE OPTIMISED SHADING DEVICE

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PROJECT SOLAR SHADING POLENTIAL

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For all year

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For summer

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So the previous shading device should be resized, almost till the 240 W/m2 values of point cloud: