The following project is a CASA-STUDIO located in a residual space between buildings. Solar analysis will be applied to this building in order to understand the light effect.

The studies proposed for this exercise were: daily shadows analysis, monthly shadows analysis, solar analysis on the building, solar analysis on facades,  daylight analysis, ray light analysis ant thermal comfort analysis.

Refer to the complete analysis: FINAL ASSIGMENT ECOTEC

1. 1. Shadows and Reflections

Ecotect™ allows us to see how our future building is going to cast shadows on the surroundings or how do the current buildings cast shadows on each other on a certain day at a certain time or all year round. This helps find the right shape of the building and prevent overshadowing.

To turn on shadows and reflections display we can use the Display tab in the upper panel or F9 and F10 on the keyboard. But for me the easiest way to control and set shadow and reflections is the Shadow Settings Panel on the right side of the window. But before that, of course, we have to load the Weather File. For the Shadows and Reflections exercise (which I did on my Superblock) I chose Barcelona and Seoul to compare.

Daily Sun Path, Barcelona, 1^st of December, shadows shown for 15:00, screenshot

Annual Sun Path plus Daily Sun Path and Shadow Range for the  6^th of June, Seoul

Shadow Range, Barcelona, 25^th of November, 8am – 8pm

Reflections with Solar Rays, Barcelona, 20^th of September, 14:00

1. 2. Solar Radiation

Ecotect™ allows us to analyse solar radiation in a very detailed way. It is very important to consider solar radiation for the projects because it’s the largest source of heat gain in buildings. And of course it is very important, for example, for building with solar panels. In Ecotect™ we can calculate solar exposure and shading mask graphs, check solar availability, calculate available solar radiation for photo-voltaic arrays, etc. For this we use Calculate →Solar Access Analysis →Incident Solar Radiation.

Insolation Analysis, Barcelona, average for the whole year

Insolation Analysis, Barcelona, average for spring, 3d Grid

There are several ways to calculate solar radiation in Ecotect™. For example, to calcutate the amount of solar radiation on different areas of a façade of a building we can either divide the surface of the façade into rectangles using the Surface Subdivision function in the Modify tab or we can pull a grid over the façade using the 3d-Form Fit in Auto-Fit Grid to object in the Grid menu on the right.

Solar Radiation on a façade, average for November, Moscow, using tiling

Solar Radiation on a façade, Barcelona, 6^th of October, 7:45, using a 3d fitted grid

Solar Radiation, average amount of sunlight on different surfaces, Barcelona, 8^th of September, 7:30

1. 3. Daylight Analysis

Ecotect™ can be used to visualize the daylighting performance of rooms and spaces in buildings. We can calculate daylight factors for any space, see how much daylight the windows let in and which rooms are more exposed to sunlight at specific days and times. To do this we use the Lighting Analysis in the Calculate tab.

Daylight Analysis, Moscow, 25^th of March, 11:00

The same Daylight Analysis but with the grid on another level (higher) in the 3d editor.

Anna Popova, Digital Tools Ecotect, PDF

Analysing social housing in Kolomna, Russia

This residential building is situated in Kolomna, Russia (55°05′N 38°47′E)
The region is very cold and the solar day in winter is only 6 hours long. So the shape of the building sholud provide maximum solar exposure to the sun.

1st Strategy – Engraving on curves – Tool : 54 Ballmill – Duration : 45 minutes
2nd Strategy – Engraving on points – Tool : 10 Flatmill – Duration : 20 minutes

1st joint –Characteritics -1 connection that permits sliding on a bar, 1 connection that permit 3-axis rotation
Geometry –One internal sphere with a hole for sliding and one external ring with a joint that car slide on the sphere offering 3-axis rotation(restricted by the bar that slides on the sphere)
Functionality – forms the internal part of our structure and allows movement to every direction
2nd joint -Characteritics -1 connection that permits sliding on a bar, 2 connections that permit 3-axis rotation
Geometry – One internal sphere with a hole for sliding and two external rings with joints that can slide on the sphere offering 3-axis rotation(restricted by the bar that slides on the sphere and the interaction between this two rings)
Functionality – forms the external part of our structure and allows movement to every direction
3rd joint –Characteritics -4 connections that permit two axis rotation
Geometry – Four different layers of half rings that can rotate about a central axis. On each ring there is a joint that can move along its length
Functionality – forms the external part of our structure and allows movement to every direction