Horizon profile

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I'm new for Ecotect and ...italian, so sorry for my english. I would like to do a thermal analysis of a house which is surrounded by mountains. I'd like to know if it's possible to include the horizon profile as I didn't find the way to do it and obviously the effective sun hours are different without it.

I'm sorry if it alrealdy existed a forum on the topic but I didn't find it.

Thanks for your help 

 Chiara

[Pennetier1 · Accepted solution]

Hello S3229558, 

There are a few ways to go about simulating mountains or other topography surrounding your model, which will impact the sunpath and ultimately some thermal calculations.

The first method is the one I used most: you simply have to create and import a 3D model of the surrounding terrain into your model.  If the mountains are far enough, then it won't matter much in terms of thermal calculations, as the mountains will appear very low on the horizon and the sun does not give much solar radiation when it is low in the sky.  So only model the surrounding terrain only.  This can be done through your CAD software (some, allows you to import terrain from Google Earth) or you can import directly a DEM (Digital Elevation Model) if you have one available (they are readily available in the US, but maybe not so much in Italy).  These models can be very large and difficult to manipulate, so you'll want to stick to the simplest geometry.

The other method is only valid for specific analyses that require a shading mask.  You can create your own shading mask for a specific object in your model by going to Calculate menu > Sun-Path Diagram > Edit Shading > select 100% and you can "paint" your mountains on the horizon of your shading mask.  If you have a fish-eye camera lens, you can use a photograph of the site and overlay it on top of your shading mask.  You will then be able to "paint" your mountain more accurately.  Save the file through the File menu > Calculated Shading File > Save Current Mask.  Now you can use this saved file when performing Solar Access Analysis calculations, in step 6 of 7 with "use masks from previous detailed shading calculation".  

This method would not work for a whole building thermal analysis though, as it is only specific to the object you have selected.

I hope it helps a little bit.

Let me know if you have more questions on this topic, otherwise please accept as a solution so that others can benefit from this information.

Cheers,

[Anonymous]

Hi,

thanks for your prompt reply.

I chose the second possibility because my model is already very complex and the first thermal analysis lasted four hours. I marked the horizon profile in the reality with the dedicated instrument and I draw it on the sunpath diagram so the command "Edit Shading"  is perfect !  

Chiara