The intention of this next iteration on the theme of overshadowing was to look at surface shading on a glazing panel. Unfortunately I got a bit bogged down trying to work out interactive design rules for louvres and brise soleil so didn't get as far as I'd have liked over the long weekend. However, I did finish a basic horizontal/vertical shade example and thought I'd put it up as, even though it doesn't yet show the shading effect on the glazing surface, simply being able to drag a shading mask around seems to give some useful insight into the solar apperture and obstruction effects.
The latest version of Processing makes exporting sketches directly to Android relatively easy. However, as everyone on the Processing for Android wiki keeps saying, interacting with a mobile app is very different from using a standard mouse and keyboard. This update is the first of my attempts to at Android development.with Processing.
I often find myself trying to explain the concept of shading masks - typically over the phone which is never easy. Thus I thought I'd try both demonstrating and illustrating the basic ideas in an interactive web app. In the end it turned out far better than I ever thought it would.
Most of the real detail in a sun-path diagram is usually around the horizon. This is where adjacent buildings, trees and other site objects provide the greatest levels of obstruction. To increase detail at these low altitudes, different sun path projection methods can be used to essentially 'squeeze' altitude angles towards the zenith and expand them around the horizon. This applet demonstrates the most common altitude projection methods and shows how they can be mapped in both sky-dome and orthographic sun-path diagrams.
Horizontal and Vertical Shadow Angles (HSA & VSA) are very important when dealing with the design of shading devices. As opposed to solar azimuth and altitude angles, shadow angles are always taken relative to a particular surface. This applet presents a visual illustration of the complex relationship between location, solar position, orientation, tilt and shadow angle. Interactively changing the date, time and location is the key to developing a visual understanding of this fundamental shading design concept.
This applet demonstrates the geometric relationship between the Earth and the Sun, showing the resulting illumination pattern at any time of the day and year for any location. All factors such as declination and the equation of time are fully considered and accurately modelled. It allows you to overlay information such as annual sun paths, important latitude/longitude lines and world time zones. You can rotate around the Earth in any direction or lock into a geo-stationary or view-from-sun perspective. Both annual and daily solar cycles can also be animated to better appreciate subtle effects.
Sun-Path Diagrams are a way of modelling and visualising the path of the Sun through the sky at a specific geographic location. With a little interactivity and a small element of play, such diagrams can significantly contribute to our understanding of how the Sun is likely to interact with a building - a concept crucial to the effective design of shading systems. This applet presents just such a Sun-Path diagram, allowing you to interactively change date, time and location as well as viewing it in a range of different ways.
