Join us for a Programming & Analysis Mock Exam on Tuesday, June 21 at noon CT! In celebration of the summer solstice, we’ll review five questions all about sun, wind, and light as they relate to PA. Expert architect Omar Al-Hassawi will join us to cover sun path diagrams, how to use the wind for passive cooling, and how to design with the sun in mind for daylighting and passive heating.
Don’t forget to take the Mock Exam before we go live. Post any questions in the comments below to have them answered during our broadcast!
Register here!
Welcome to the ARE Community! Post a question below or just say hi for a chance to win a Black Spectacles t-shirt.
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Hi, enter me for the tee-shirt
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Hi! Thanks for the webinar
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Hi! Thanks for the webinar and t-shirt
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Could you elaborate on the azimuth degrees where they duplicate? How should we answer if our azimuth falls in these zones?
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Hi @algonquin !
Thanks for your question! The azimuth degrees are duplicated based on the time of day. So if it’s the morning sun (before 12 pm) you’ll use the azimuth degrees on the east side because the sun rises in the east. If it’s a time of day in the afternoon (after 12 pm) you’ll use the azimuth degrees on the west side because the sun sets in the west. Thanks!
-Rebecca
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Hello, why would we not want to use option B, shouldn’t we try to minimize surface to area ratio in hot-arid climates? Is it because there is a series of buildings in this condition? (in regards to question 3)
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Hi @jrodriguez1 !
Although answer B isn’t necessarily a poor design for a hot-arid climate, part of the question states that the developer wants a mix of wide and narrow streets. Option B only provides one street width option. Thanks!
-Rebecca
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i don’t understand why you’d want the long side exposed to the sun. Wouldn’t that gain more heat? I thought c was right for question 3
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Can you talk a bit more about the best shading strategy at E-W facing windows?
Thanks!
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Hi, thank you for the informative webinar.
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Thanks guys! That was great stuff
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Hi @kmovaffagh !
Thanks for your question! To echo what Omar stated: On the angled walls we would only need a short overhang to shade that glazing because there’s no direct sunlight. On Option C, we would need vertical fins on both the East and West side and would need a longer overhang on the South side to deal with the direct sunlight.
The angled orientation does also help to alleviate the direct sun exposure on the east, south, and west sides. Hope that helps!
Thanks,
Rebecca
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Hi @ctrabuco !
Thanks for your question! Overall, vertical louvers are the most effective shading option for eastern and western exposure and horizontal overhangs are the most effective for southern orientations. There is some great information on this as well as some diagrams in Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated page 1.18 (5th Edition). Thanks!
-Rebecca
Thanks Rebecca! The reason I was asking this is because when you read “Heating, Cooling and Lighting” book you get a bit confused as they say vertical shading is mostly effective on the north side and that for E-W openings having a deep overhang is better than the vertical fins. The solution seems to be much more convoluted than this. The book goes on and on about the pros and cons of both options and it ends by saying that vertical shading is not good for E-W openings! This is totally the opposite of what I’ve seen in other sources… just was curious what are the thoughts around this…!
Hi @ctrabuco !
Thanks for pointing that out! That’s really interesting, I’ve always read (and learned in school) that vertical fins are best for east and west facing facades but I also didn’t rely much on Heating, Cooling, and Lighting to study. The thought with the vertical fins is that they can be adjusted throughout the day to mitigate the sun coming through the windows as it’s migrating across the southern part of the sky based on the time of day. Hope that helps a bit!
Thanks again,
Rebecca