Es_2 Solar Radiation Analysis (Via Varna, Infernetto, Roma)

Starting from the base model of my house that I did for the first assingment, I modelled more details which, in my opinion, are an integral part in how the facades of the building are hit by the solar radiation during the course of the different seasons. Moreover I added an additional mass element that would work as terrain for my model, to study how the sun hits the ground too.

To do that I Selected the base model of the building and selected the option "Edit in Place" under the "Modify" tab. I proceded to create various nooks and protrusions to represent more accuratelly my house with the commands "Create Form" and "Void Form". This is the result:

After that I clicked on the "Analyze" tab and then selected the "Solar Radiation" option to perform a solar radiation analysis on this site. (I already selected the location in the previous assignment).

I selected the type of analysis which I want to perform: Cumulative. This type of analysis shows the sum of the solar radiation calculated during the entire time of the analysis. I selected the type of unit: kWh/m^2.

The I set the periods of time of the analysis. First of all I decided to do an analysis of a single day in different seasons to see how the solar radiation changes basing on the changing height of the sun during the year. 

23/3/2014, two days after the spring equinox. I checked the option to do the analysis "Sunrise to sunset" (from 6:10 AM to 6:24 PM).

We can see how the face of the building that receives the most radiation during this day is the inclined slope of the roof, this is in line with the fact that during this month the sun is at an intermediate height between the sun's height in summer (in which the most heated planes would be the orizzontal ones) and the sun's height in winter (in which the most heated planes would be the vertical ones facing south).

21/6/2014. Summer solstice.

The orizzontal planes are all very heated because of the long daylight time. We can see how the west facade, even if hit by the sun from midday to dusk, is only partially heated because of the partial shading provided by the tall trees and the fact that during afternoon the angle with which the solar beams hit that vertical surface is way lower than the angle with which the midday light beams hit the roof.

The vertical planes facing south are coloured in blue becasuse no solar radiation hits them during the day, this is becuase the architect choose the right lenght of the projecting roof to prevent the sun to get in during the summer days. I can't say if the windows of the second floor balcony gets no solar radiation at all during the entire summer, because that kind of claim would need to be backed up by a shading mask study, but I can say from experience that those rooms are quite nice in summer if there is enough ventilation.

21/12/2014. Winter solstice.

As I said in the previous assignment, the second floor is well heated in winter beacuse of its orientation, but the same can't be said for the first floor which is shaded by vegetation.

Unfortunatelly I couldn't tell drastic materials degradation on the house walls, because It has been recently cleaned and paintet, so I focused my analysis on the garden to see if vegetation is effectively compromised by the absence of solar radiation. To do that I made a cumulative analysis from november to february, a period in which is pretty cold and trees have no foliage, to see If there are any places where the sun doesn't shine too much and how that have an effect on the garden itself.

Cumulative analysis from november to february.

1. 

In this picture we can see the moss concentrating mostly directly under the plant's shadows, with no moss at all on the deep end and a slitgh degradation before the shaded part. 

2. 

 The wall in the foreground is like new, while the wall facing est is covered in moss, but both apparently have the same solar radiation. This is because the first one is always dry,while the second one gets wet every morning thanks to the automated irrigating system. The fact that the sun can't directly hit that wall form almost the entire day means that the water can't dry and that results in high umidity and formation of moss. 

3.  

This is the place in the entire garden with the least quantity of grass.