Analysis of the last version of our plan: shading, solar radiation, thermal analysis.

Good evening,

I'm sorry for linking images from another website, but i have some difficulties in uploading them directly.

During this last weeks we kept an eye on how our plan was developing, the solar radiation and the study of the shades have always been one of our first thought.

The first image shows a moment in which the project changed goin far away from our first idea, but then we changed our mind again. The design path was full of different problems and themes we had to think of, as always.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2krfw7.jpg

In the second image is shown the last version. there are 63 flats, everyone of them has windows and openings towards the North and the South. In the northern part of the flats we inserted services (such as bathrooms and kitchens), while in the southern there are bedrooms and living rooms. The south wall is characterized by "holes" in alternated positions in every floor: our first intent was to study parametrically the shape of a single flat, to understand how the solar radiation could optimatically distribute on the surfaces, but in the end we didn't manage to go on, as our time was running out. In the Northern part we planned a facade with just the necessary openings.

http://i45.tinypic.com/sxon.jpg

We chose the depth of the balconies basing our reasoning on shading problematics, we tried not to let the sunlight enter directly in the hottest hours of the hottest months. We used vertical elements not just to divide those private balconies, but as shading elements too.

According to the orientation of the buildings we modelled the facades changing the percentage of glass for each grup of surfaces (south: 40% north:17%).

In the third and fourth image we measured the solar radiation in the winter and summer period. The result of our shadings is that in summer the average radiation in the south facade is 0.03kWh/mq, while in winter the sun reaches more directly the surfaces, and that value becomes more than 0.1kWh/mq.

http://i49.tinypic.com/15p1zl5.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/35lg7dk.jpg

The thermal analysis shows the annual energy use, we tried to see how much the shaders (horizontal or vertical) affect this value. The lowest energy use (163kWh/sm/yr) is reached with all the shaders and the normal percentage of glazed surfaces. When we launch the analysis without some shaders or with a higher percentage of glass the value rises, reaching 190kWh/sm/yr.

these are the screenshot from the analysis result.

http://i49.tinypic.com/16k7s7b.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/15hly6u.jpg