Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Calculate the incident radiation on geometry using a sky matrix from the "Cumulative Sky Matrix" component.
Such studies of incident radiation can be used to apprxomiate the energy that can be collected from photovoltaic or solar thermal systems. They are also useful for evaluating the impact of a building's orientation on both energy use and the size/cost of cooling systems. For studies of photovoltaic potential or building energy use impact, a sky matrix from EPW radiation should be used. For studies of cooling system size/cost, a sky matrix derived from the STAT file's clear sky radiation should be used.
NOTE THAT NO REFLECTIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY ARE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS PERFORMED BY THIS COMPONENT.
Ground reflected irradiance is crudely acounted for by means of an emissive "ground hemisphere," which is like the sky dome hemisphere and is derived from the ground reflectance that is associated with the connected _sky_mtx. This means that including geometry that represents the ground surface will effectively block such crude ground reflection.
Also note that this component uses the CAD environment's ray intersection methods, which can be fast for geometries with low complexity but does not scale well for complex geometries or many test points. For such complex cases and situations where relfection of solar energy are important, honeybee-radiance should be used.
sky_mtx [Required]
A Sky Matrix from the "LB Cumulative Sky Matrix" component or the "LB Benefit Sky Matrix" component, which describes the radiation coming from the various patches of the sky. The "LB Sky Dome" component can be used to visualize any sky matrix to understand its relationship to the test geometry.
geometry [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes for which incident radiation analysis will be conducted. If Breps are input, they will be subdivided using the _grid_size to yeild individual points at which analysis will occur. If a Mesh is input, radiation analysis analysis will be performed for each face of this mesh instead of subdividing it.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block solar radiation to the test _geometry.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _geometry will be subdivided for incident radiation analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the geometry and context in order to yield meaningful results.
offset_dist
A number for the distance to move points from the surfaces of the input _geometry. Typically, this should be a small positive number to ensure points are not blocked by the mesh. (Default: 10 cm in the equivalent Rhino Model units).
irradiance
Boolean to note whether the study should output units of cumulative Radiation (kWh/m2) [False] or units of average Irradiance (W/m2) [True]. (Default: False).
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform incident radiation analysis.
report
...
points
The grid of points on the test _geometry that are be used to perform the incident radiation analysis.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the points. Each number indicates the cumulative incident radiation received by each of the points from the sky matrix in kWh/m2.
total
A number for the total incident solar energy falling on all input geometry in kWh. Note that, unlike the radiation results above, which are normlaized by area, these values are not area-normalized and so the input geometry must be represented correctly in the Rhino model's unit system in order for this output to be meaningful.
mesh
A colored mesh of the test _geometry representing the cumulative incident radiation received by the input _geometry.
legend
A legend showing the kWh/m2 that correspond to the colors of the mesh.
title
A text object for the study title.
int_mtx
A Matrix object that can be connected to the "LB Deconstruct Matrix" component to obtain detailed patch-by-patch results of the study. Each sub-list of the matrix (aka. branch of the Data Tree) represents one of the points used for analysis. The length of each sub-list matches the number of sky patches in the input sky matrix (145 for the default Tregenza sky and 577 for the high_density Reinhart sky). Each value in the sub-list is a value between 0 and 1 indicating the relationship between the point and the patch of the sky. A value of "0", indicates that the patch is not visible for that point at all while a value of "1" indicates that the patch hits the surface that the point represents head on.
Evaluate the percent view to the outdoors or sky from input geometry through context.
Such view calculations can be used to estimate the quality of a view to the outdoors from a given location on the indoors. They can also be used on the outdoors to evaluate the openness of street canyons to the sky, which has implications for the pedestrian expereince as well as the rate of radiant heat loss from urban surfaces and the sky at night.
Note that this component uses the CAD environment's ray intersection methods, which can be fast for geometries with low complexity but does not scale well for complex geometries or many test points. For such complex studies, honeybee-radiance should be used.
view_type [Required]
Text or an integer representing the type of view analysis to conduct. Choose from the following options. 0 - HorizontalRadial - The percentage of the 360 horizontal view plane that is not blocked by the context geometry. 1 - Horizontal30DegreeOffset - The percentage of the 360 horizontal view band bounded on top and bottom by a 30 degree offset from the horizontal plane. 30 degrees corresponds roughly to the vertical limit of human peripheral vision. 2 - Spherical - The percentage of the sphere surrounding each of the test points that is not blocked by context geometry. This is equivalent to a solid angle and gives equal weight to all portions of the sphere. 3 - SkyExposure - The percentage of the sky that is visible from each of the the test points. This is distinct from SkyView, which is the amount of sky seen by a surface. SkyExposure is equivalent to a solid angle and gives equal weight to all portions of the sky. 4 - SkyView - The percentage of the sky that is visible from the _geometry surfaces. This is distinct from SkyExposure, which treats each part of the sky with equal weight. SkyView weights the portions of the sky according to thier projection into the plane of the surface being evaluated. So SkyView for a horizontal surface would give more importance to the sky patches that are overhead vs. those near the horizon.
resolution
A positive integer for the number of times that the original view vectors are subdivided. 1 indicates that 145 evenly-spaced vectors are used to describe a hemisphere, 2 indicates that 577 vectors describe a hemisphere, and each successive value will roughly quadruple the number of view vectors used. Setting this to a high value will result in a more accurate analysis but will take longer to run. (Default: 1).
geometry [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes for which view analysis will be conducted. If Breps are input, they will be subdivided using the _grid_size to yeild individual points at which analysis will occur. If a Mesh is input, view analysis analysis will be performed for each face of this mesh instead of subdividing it.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block view from the test _geometry.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _geometry will be subdivided for direct sun analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the geometry and context in order to yield meaningful results.
offset_dist
A number for the distance to move points from the surfaces of the input _geometry. Typically, this should be a small positive number to ensure points are not blocked by the mesh. (Default: 10 cm in the equivalent Rhino Model units).
geo_block
Set to "True" to count the input _geometry as opaque and set to "False" to discount the geometry from the calculation and only look at context that blocks the view. The default depends on the _view_type used. It is "True" for:
It is "False" for:
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform view analysis of the input _geometry.
report
...
points
The grid of points on the test _geometry that are be used to perform the view analysis.
view_vecs
A list of vectors which are projected from each of the points to evaluate view.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the points. Each number indicates the percentage of the view_vecs that are not blocked by context geometry.
mesh
A colored mesh of the test _geometry representing the percentage of the input _geometry's view that is not blocked by context.
legend
A legend that correspond to the colors of the mesh and shows the percentage of the view_vecs that are not blocked by context geometry.
title
A text object for the study title.
int_mtx
A Matrix object that can be connected to the "LB Deconstruct Matrix" component to obtain detailed vector-by-vector results of the study. Each sub-list (aka. branch of the Data Tree) represents one of the points used for analysis. The length of each sub-list matches the number of view_vecs used for the analysis. Each value in the sub-list is either a "1", indicating that the vector is visible for that vector, or a "0", indicating that the vector is not visible for that vector.
Calculate the number of hours of direct sunlight received by geometry using sun vectors obtained from the "LB SunPath" component.
Such direct sun calculations can be used for shadow studies of outdoor enviroments or can be used to estimate glare potential from direct sun on the indoors.
Note that this component uses the CAD environment's ray intersection methods, which can be fast for geometries with low complexity but does not scale well for complex geometries or many test points. For such complex studies, honeybee-radiance should be used.
vectors [Required]
Sun vectors from the "LB SunPath" component, which will be used to determine the number of hours of direct sunlight received by the test _geometry.
timestep
A positive integer for the number of timesteps per hour at which the "LB SunPath" component generated sun vectors. This is used to correctly interpret the time duration represented by each of the input sun vectors. (Default: 1 for 1 vector per hour).
geometry [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes for which direct sun analysis will be conducted. If Breps are input, they will be subdivided using the _grid_size to yeild individual points at which analysis will occur. If a Mesh is input, direct sun analysis analysis will be performed for each face of this mesh instead of subdividing it.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block sunlight to the test _geometry.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _geometry will be subdivided for direct sun analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the geometry and context in order to yield meaningful results.
offset_dist
A number for the distance to move points from the surfaces of the input _geometry. Typically, this should be a small positive number to ensure points are not blocked by the mesh. (Default: 10 cm in the equivalent Rhino Model units).
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform direct sun analysis.
report
...
points
The grid of points on the test _geometry that are be used to perform the direct sun analysis.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the points. Each number indicates the number of hours of direct sunlight received by each of the points. Note that is is the number of hours out of the total number of connected _vectors.
mesh
A colored mesh of the test _geometry representing the hours of direct sunlight received by this input _geometry
legend
A legend showing the number of hours that correspond to the colors of the mesh.
title
A text object for the study title.
int_mtx
A Matrix object that can be connected to the "LB Deconstruct Matrix" component to obtain detailed vector-by-vector results of the study. Each sub-list of the matrix (aka. branch of the Data Tree) represents one of the points used for analysis. The length of each sub-list matches the number of _vectors used for the analysis. Each value in the sub-list is either a "1", indicating that the sun is visible for that vector, or a "0", indicating that the sun is not visible for that vector.
Calculate parameters for the relationship between human geometry and the sky given the position of a human subject and context geometry surrounding this position.
The outputs of this component can be plugged into either the "LB Outdoor Solar MRT" or the "LB Indoor Solar MRT" in order to account for context shading around a human subject in these MRT calculations.
north
A number between -360 and 360 for the counterclockwise difference between the North and the positive Y-axis in degrees. 90 is West and 270 is East. This can also be Vector for the direction to North. (Default: 0)
location [Required]
A ladybug Location that has been output from the "LB Import EPW" component, the "LB Import Location" component, or the "LB Construct Location" component. This will be used to compute hourly sun positions for the fract_body_exp.
position [Required]
A point for the position of the human subject in the Rhino scene. This is used to understand where a person is in relationship to the _context. The point input here should be at the feet of the human a series of points will be generated above. This can also be a list of points, which will result in several outputs.
context [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block the human subject's direct sun and view to the sky.
pt_count
A positive integer for the number of points used to represent the human subject geometry. Points are evenly distributed over the height and are used to compute fracitonal values for the fract_body_exp in the case that only some of the points can see the sun. When context shade around the subject is large or coarse, using a single point is likely to return similar results as using several points. However, this number should be increased when context is detailed and has the potential to shade only part of the human subject at a given time. (Default: 1).
height
A number for the the height of the human subject in the current Rhino Model units. (Default: 1.8 m in the equivalent Rhino Model units; roughly the average height of a standing adult).
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and compute the human/sky relationship. If set to "False" but all other required inputs are specified, this component will output points showing the human subject.
report
...
human_points
The points used to represent the human subject in the calculation of the fraction of the body exposed to sun. Note that these are generated even when _run is set to "False".
human_line
Line representing the height of the human subject. Note that this is generated even when _run is set to "False".
fract_body_exp
A data collection for the fraction of the body exposed to direct sunlight at each hour of the year. This can be plugged into the "Solar MRT" components in order to account for context shading in the computation of MRT.
sky_exposure
A single number between 0 and 1 for the fraction of the sky vault in human subject’s view. This can be plugged into the "Solar MRT" components in order to account for context shading in the computation of MRT.
Visualize the view openness around a given point as a colored mesh that fills a circle, sphere, or hemisphere (depending on the specified view type).
The input context will block the view, resulting in a decresed view rose size and a change in the view rose color.
context [Required]
Rhino Breps or Meshes representing context geometry that can block the view around the center point.
center_pt [Required]
A point for the center of the view rose from which view openness will be evaluated.
radius
A number for the radius of the view rose in Rhino model units. This is also used to evaluate the distance at which context is no longer able to block the view from the center point. This value should typically be increased if the view rose does not extend past the _context geometry. (Default: 100 meters in the current Rhino model units system).
view_type
Text or an integer representing the type of view analysis to conduct. Choose from the following options. (Default: 0 - HorizontalRadial) 0 - HorizontalRadial - The percentage of the 360 horizontal view plane that is not blocked by the context geometry. 1 - Horizontal30DegreeOffset - The percentage of the 360 horizontal view band bounded on top and bottom by a 30 degree offset from the horizontal plane. 30 degrees corresponds roughly to the vertical limit of human peripheral vision. 2 - Spherical - The percentage of the sphere surrounding each of the test points that is not blocked by context geometry. This is equivalent to a solid angle and gives equal weight to all portions of the sphere. 3 - SkyExposure - The percentage of the sky that is visible from each of the the test points.
resolution
A positive integer for the number of times that the original view vectors are subdivided. For a circle, 1 indicates that 72 evenly-spaced vectors are used to describe a circle, 2 indicates that 144 vectors describe a circle, and each successive value will roughly double the number of view vectors used. For a dome, 1 indicates that 1225 are used to describe the dome, 2 indicates that 5040 view vectors describe the some and each successive value will roughly quadruple the number of view vectors used. Setting this to a high value will result in a more accurate analysis but will take longer to run. (Default: 1).
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
report
...
view_vecs
A list of vectors which are projected from each of the points to evaluate view.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the vertices of the mesh. Each number indicates the distance from the _center_pt at which the view is blocked from a particular direction.
mesh
A colored mesh representing the visible area from the viewpoint past the _context geometry. Colors indicate how open the view is from a given direction.
legend
A legend that correspond to the colors of the mesh and shows the distance at which vectors are blocked.
Evaluate the percent visibility from geometry to a specific set of points.
Such visibility calculations can be used to understand the portions of a building facade that can see a skyline or landmark when used on the outdoors. When used on the indoors, they can evaluate the spectator view of a stage, screen, or other point of interest.
view_points [Required]
A list of points that characterize an area of interest to which visibility is being evaluated. If the area of interest is more like a surface than an individual point, the "LB Generate Point Grid" component can be used to obtain a list of points that are evenly distributed over the surface.
pt_weights
An optional list of numbers that align with the _view_points and represent weights of importance for each point. Weighted values should be between 0 and 1 and should be closer to 1 if a certain point is more important. The default value for all points is 0, which means they all have an equal importance.
geometry [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes for which visibility analysis will be conducted. If Breps are input, they will be subdivided using the _grid_size to yeild individual points at which analysis will occur. If a Mesh is input, visibility analysis analysis will be performed for each face of this mesh instead of subdividing it.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block visibility from the test _geometry.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _geometry will be subdivided for direct sun analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the geometry and context in order to yield meaningful results.
offset_dist
A number for the distance to move points from the surfaces of the input _geometry. Typically, this should be a small positive number to ensure points are not blocked by the mesh. (Default: 10 cm in the equivalent Rhino Model units).
max_dist
An optional number to set the maximum distance beyond which the end_points are no longer considered visible by the start_points. If None, points with an unobstructed view to one another will be considered visible no matter how far they are from one another.
geo_block
Set to "True" to count the input _geometry as opaque and set to "False" to discount the geometry from the calculation and only look at context that blocks the visibility. (Default: True)
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform visibility analysis of the input _geometry.
report
...
points
The grid of points on the test _geometry that are be used to perform the visibility analysis.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the points. Each number indicates the percentage of the _view_points that are not blocked by context geometry.
mesh
A colored mesh of the test _geometry representing the percentage of the input _geometry's visibility that is not blocked by context.
legend
A legend showing the number of hours that correspond to the colors of the mesh.
title
A text object for the study title.
int_mtx
A Matrix object that can be connected to the "LB Deconstruct Matrix" component to obtain detailed point-by-point results of the study. Each sub-list (aka. branch of the Data Tree) represents one of the geometry points used for analysis. The length of each sub-list matches the number of _view_points used for the analysis. Each value in the sub-list is either a "1", indicating that the vector is visible for that vector, or a "0", indicating that the vector is not visible for that vector.
Calculate view factors from a point or plane to a set of geometries.
View factors are used in many thermal comfort calculations such as mean radiant temperture (MRT) or discomfort from radiant assymetry.
study_point [Required]
A point or plane from which view vectors will be projected. Note that, if a point is connected, all view vectors will be weighted evenly (assuming no directional bias). However, if a plane is connected, vectors will be weighted based on their angle to the plane normal, producing view factors for a surface in the connected plane. The first is useful for MRT calculations while the latter is needed for radiant assymetry calculations. This input can also be a list of several points or planes.
view_geo [Required]
A list of breps, surfaces, or meshes to which you want to compute view factors. Note that by meshing and joining several goemtries together, the combined view factor to these geometries can be computed.
context
Optional context geometry as breps, surfaces, or meshes that can block the view to the _view_geo.
resolution
A positive integer for the number of times that the original view vectors are subdivided. 1 indicates that 145 evenly-spaced vectors are used to describe a hemisphere, 2 indicates that 577 vectors describe a hemisphere, and each successive value will roughly quadruple the number of view vectors used. Setting this to a high value will result in a more accurate analysis but will take longer to run. (Default: 1).
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to True to run the component and claculate view factors.
report
...
view_vecs
A list of vectors which are projected from each of the points to evaluate view.
patch_mesh
A mesh that represents the sphere of view patches around the _study_point at the input resolution. There is one face per patch and this can be used along with the int_mtx to create a colored visualization of patches corresponding to different geometries around the point. Specifically, the "LB Spaital Heatmap" component is recommended for such visualizations. Note that only one sphere is ever output from here and, in the event that several _study_points are connected, this sphere will be located at the first point. Therefore, to create visualizations for the other points, this mesh should be moved using the difference between the first study point and following study points.
view_factors
A list of view factors that describe the fraction of sperical view taken up by the input surfaces. These values range from 0 (no view) to 1 (full view). If multiple _study_points have been connected, this output will be a data tree with one list for each point.
int_mtx
A Matrix object that can be connected to the "LB Deconstruct Matrix" component to obtain detailed vector-by-vector results of the study. Each sub-list (aka. branch of the Data Tree) represents one of the points used for analysis. Each value in this sub-list corresponds to a vector used in the study and the value denotes the index of the geometry that each view vector hit. This can be used to identify which view pathces are intersected by each geometry. If no geometry is intersected by a given vector, the value will be -1.
-
Visualize the desirability of shade in terms of proximity of conditions to a favorable temerature range.
The calculation runs by generating solar vectors for a data collection of input temperature values. Solar vectors for hours when the temperature is above the upper temperature threshold contribute positively to shade desirability (shade_help) while solar vectors for hours when the temperature is below the lower temperature threshold contribute negatively (shade_harm).
The component outputs a colored mesh of the shade illustrating the net effect of shading each part of the _shade_geo. A higher saturation of blue indicates that shading the cell is desirable to avoid excessively hot temperatures. A higher saturation of red indicates that shading the cell is harmful, blocking helpful sun in cold conditions that could bring conditions closer to the desired temperature range. Desaturated cells indicate that shading the cell will have relatively little effect on keeping the _study_region in the desired thermal range.
The units for shade desirability are degree-days per unit area of shade, which are essentially the amount of time in days that sun is blocked by a given cell multiplied by the degrees above (or below) the temperature thresholds during that time. So, if a given square meter of input _shade_geo has a shade desirability of 10 degree-days per square meter, this means that a shade in this location provides roughly 1 day of sun protection from conditions 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the up_threshold to the _study_region.
More information on the methods used by this component can be found in the following publication: Mackey, Christopher; Sadeghipour Roudsari, Mostapha; Samaras, Panagiotis. “ComfortCover: A Novel Method for the Design of Outdoor Shades.” In Proceedings of Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design. Washington, DC, United States, Apr 12-15 2015. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz2PwDvkjovJQVRTRHhMSXZWZjQ/view?usp=sharing
north
A number between -360 and 360 for the counterclockwise difference between the North and the positive Y-axis in degrees. 90 is West and 270 is East. This can also be Vector for the direction to North. (Default: 0)
location [Required]
A ladybug Location that has been output from the "LB Import EPW" component or the "LB Construct Location" component.
temperature [Required]
An hourly data collection with the unshaded temperature experienced at the _study_region. This temperature will be used to evaluate shade benefit for this study region. This temperature data collection should typically be informed by an analysis with the "LB Outdoor Solar MRT" or the "LB Indoor Solar MRT" component, which will account for the increased temperature delta expereinced as a result of being in the sun. For evaluation of shade in terms of outdoor thermal comfort, the best practice is to use the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) temperature at the study region for this input. For evaluation of shade benefit in terms of indoor comfort, the best practice is to use the Standard Effective Temperature (SET) derived from the "LB PMV Comfort" component for this input. In both cases, the MRT inputs to the thermal comfort models should use solar-adjusted MRT.
study_region [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing an area for which shading desirability is being evaluated. This is often the region where a human subject will sit (eg. a bench) or it could be the window of a building where an occupant might be standing or sitting.
shade_geo [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing shading to be evaluated in terms of its benefit. Note that, in the case that multiple shading geometries are connected, this component does not account for the interaction between the different shading surfaces and will just evaluate each part of the shade independently.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block sunlight to the _study_region, therefore discounting any benefit or harm that could come to the region.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _shade_geo will be subdivided for shade benefit analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the shade_geo and context in order to yield meaningful results.
up_threshold
A number representing the temperature in Celsius above which shade is considered desirable/helpful. The default is 26C, which corresponds to the upper limit of "No Thermal Stress" according to the UTCI thermal comfort model (above this, heat stress begins). A different value may be desirable for indoor thermal comfort studies.
low_threshold
A number representing the temperature in Celsius below which shade is considered harmful and access to the sun is preferable. The default is 9C, which corresponds to the lower limit of "No Thermal Stress" according to the UTCI thermal comfort model (below this, cold stress begins). A different value may be desirable for indoor thermal comfort studies.
timestep
An integer for the number of timesteps per hour at which sun vectors will be generated for the analysis. Higher values will result in the generation of more vectors, which will make the resulting shade mesh smoother and a better representation of shade benefit and harm. However, the calculation will take longer as there are more intersection operations to perform. The default is 1 timestep per hour, which is the coarsest resolution avalable and the fastest calculation.
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform shade benefit analysis.
report
...
vectors
The sun vectors that were used to evaluate the shade (note that these will increase as the timestep increases).
points
Points across the study_region from which sun vectors are projected.
mesh
A colored mesh of the shade_geo showing where shading is helpful (in blue), harmful (in red), or does not make much of a difference (white or desaturated colors). Note that the colors can change depending upon the input legend_par.
legend
Legend showing the numeric values of degree-days per unit are of shade that correspond to the colors in the shade mesh.
title
A text object for the study title.
shade_help
The cumulative degree-days per square area unit helped by shading each cell of the shade. If a given square meter of _shade_geo has a helpfulness of 10 degree-days/m2, this means that a shade in this location provides 1 day of sun protection from conditions 10 degrees warmer than the up_threshold to the _study_region.
shade_harm
The cumulative degree-days per square area unit harmed by shading each cell of the shade. If a given square meter of _shade_geo has a harmfulness of -10 degree-days, this means that a shade in this location blocks 1 day of sun duirng conditions that are 10 degrees Celsius colder than the low_threshold to the _study_region.
shade_net
The sum of the helpfulness and harmfulness for each cell. This will be negative if shading the cell has a net harmful effect and positive if the shade has a net helpful effect.
-
Visualize the portion of the sky dome that is masked by context geometry or shading strategies around a given point.
Separate meshs will be generated for the portions of the sky dome that are masked vs visible. The percentage of the sky that is masked by the context geometry and is visible will also be computed.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block the sky to the center of the sky mask.
orientation
A number between 0 and 360 that sets the direction of a vertically- oriented surface for which the sky view will be visualized and computed. Alternatively, this input can be the words "north", "east", "south" or "west." An input here will result in the output of an orient_mask, which blocks the portion of the sky that is not visible from a vertical surface with this orientation. Furthermore, all of the view-related outputs will be computed for a surface with the specified orientation (overriding any plane input for the center).
overhang_proj
A number between 0 and 90 that sets the angle between the center and the edge of an imagined horizontal overhang projecting past the point. Note that this option is only available when there is an input for orientation_ above. An input here will result in the output of a strategy_mask, which blocks the portion of the sky taken up by an overhang with the input projection angle.
left_fin_proj
A number between 0 and 180 that sets the angle between the center and the edge of an imagined vertical fin projecting past the left side of the point. Note that this option is only available when there is an input for orientation_ above. An input here will result in the output of a strategy_mask, which blocks the portion of the sky taken up by a vertical fin with the input projection angle.
right_fin_proj
A number between 0 and 180 that sets the angle between the center and the edge of an imagined vertical fin projecting past the right side of the point. Note that this option is only available when there is an input for orientation_ above. An input here will result in the output of a strategy_mask, which blocks the portion of the sky taken up by a vertical fin with the input projection angle.
density
An integer that is greater than or equal to 1, which to sets the number of times that the sky patches are split. Higher numbers input here will ensure a greater accuracy but will also take longer to run. A value of 3 should result in sky view factors with less than 1% error from the true value. (Default: 1).
center
A point or plane for which the visible portion of the sky will be evaluated. If a point is input here, the view-related outputs will be indiferent to orientation and the sky_view outut will technically be Sky Exposure (or the fraction of the sky hemisphere that is visible from the point). If a plane is input here (or an orientation_ is connected), the view-related outputs will be sensitive to orientation and the sky_view output will be true Sky View (or the fraction of the sky visible from a surface in a plane). If no value is input here, the center will be a point (Sky Exposure) at the Rhino origin (0, 0, 0).
scale
A number to set the scale of the sky mask. The default is 1, which corresponds to a radius of 100 meters in the current Rhino model's unit system.
projection
Optional text for the name of a projection to use from the sky dome hemisphere to the 2D plane. If None, a 3D dome will be drawn instead of a 2D one. Choose from the following:
report
...
context_mask
A mesh for the portion of the sky dome masked by the context_ geometry.
orient_mask
A mesh for the portion of the sky dome that is not visible from a surface is facing a given orientation.
strategy_mask
A mesh of the portion of the sky dome masked by the overhang, left fin, and right fin projections.
sky_mask
A mesh of the portion of the sky dome visible by the center through the strategies and context_ geometry.
context_view
The percentage of the sky dome masked by the context_ geometry.
orient_view
The percentage of the sky dome that is not visible from a surface is facing a given orientation.
strategy_view
The percentage of the sky dome viewed by the overhang, left fin, and right fin projections.
sky_view
The percentage of the sky dome visible by the center through the strategies and context_ geometry.
-
Generate a solar envelope boundary for a given geometry, set of sun vectors, and context (obstacle) geometry.
Solar collection envelopes show the height above which one will have solar access to certain sun positions on a given site.
Solar rights envelopes illustrate the volume in which one can build while ensuring that a new development does not shade the surrounding properties for certain sun positions.
geometry [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes for which the solar envelope will be computed. If Breps are input, they will be subdivided using the _grid_size to yeild individual points at which analysis will occur. If a Mesh is input, the analysis will be performed for each vertex of the mesh instead of subdividing it.
obstacles [Required]
A list of horizontal planar Breps or curves indicating the tops (in the case of solar collection) or bottoms (in the case of solar rights) of context geometries. Being above a solar collection boundary ensures these top surfaces don't block the sun vectors to ones position. Being below a solar rights boundary ensures these bottom surfaces are protected from shade.
vectors [Required]
Sun vectors from the "LB SunPath" component, which determine the times of the year when sun should be accessible.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _geometry will be subdivided for envelope analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. The default will be a relativel coarse auto-calculated from the bounding box around the _geometry.
height_limit
A positive number for the minimum distance below (for collections) or maximum distance above (for rights) the average _geometry height that the envelope points can be. This is used when there are no vectors blocked for a given point. (Default: 100 meters).
solar_rights
Set to True to compute a solar rights boundary and False to compute a solar collection boundary. Solar rights boundaries represent the boundary below which one can build without shading the surrounding obstacles from any of the _vectors. Solar collection boundaries represent the boundary above which one will have direct solar access to all of the input _vectors. (Default: False).
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and get a solar envelope.
report
...
points
The grid of points above the test _geometry representing the height to which the solar envelope boundary reaches.
mesh
A mesh representing the solar envelope. For solar collections (the default), this represents the boundary above which the one will have direct solar access to all of the input _vectors. For solar rights envelopes, this represents the boundary below which one can build without shading the surrounding obstacles from any of the _vectors.
Visualize the desirability of shade in terms of the time period of blocked sun vectors for each part of a shade geometry.
The calculation assumes that all input _vectors represent sun to be blocked, which is often the case when evaluating shade in terms of its benefit for glare reduction and occupant visual comfort. It can also be the case when sun vectors have been filtered to account for times of peak cooling demand or for the heat stress of human subjects.
The component outputs a colored mesh of the shade illustrating the helpfulness of shading each part of the _shade_geo. A higher saturation of blue indicates that shading the cell blocks more hours of sun and is therefore more desirable.
The units for shade desirability are hrs/square Rhino unit, which note the amount of time that sun is blocked by a given cell. So, if a given square meter of input _shade_geo has a shade desirability of 10 hrs/m2, this means that a shade in this location blocks an average of 10 hours to each of the _study_points.
vectors [Required]
Sun vectors from the "LB SunPath" component, which will be used to determine the number of hours of sun blocked by the _shade_geo. When evaluating shade benefit in terms of glare reduction, these vectors are typically for any sun-up hour of the year since looking into the sun at practically any hour is likely to induce glare. When using this component to approximate reductions to cooling demand or human heat stress, it's more appropriate to filter sun vectors using a conditional statement or use other types of shade benefit analysis like the "LB Thermal Shade Benefit" component or the "HB Energy Shade Benefit" component.
study_points [Required]
Points representing an location in space for which shading desirability is being evaluated. For a study of shade desirability for reducing glare, this is often the location of the human subject's view. For a study of shade desirability over a surface like a desk or a window, the "LB Generate Point Grid" component can be used to create a set of points over the surface to input here.
study_directs
Optional Vectors that align with the _study_points and represent the direction in which shade desirability is being evaluated. For a study of shade desirability for reducing glare, this is the direction in which human subject is looking. For a study of shade desirability over a surface like a desk or a window, the vectors output of the "LB Generate Point Grid" component should be input here. If not supplied, sun vectors coming from any direction will be used to evualuate shade desirability.
shade_geo [Required]
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing shading to be evaluated in terms of its benefit. Note that, in the case that multiple shading geometries are connected, this component does not account for the interaction between the different shading surfaces and will just evaluate each part of the shade independently.
context
Rhino Breps and/or Rhino Meshes representing context geometry that can block sunlight to the _study_points, therefore discounting any benefit or harm that could come to the region.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the size of grid cells at which the input _shade_geo will be subdivided for shade benefit analysis. The smaller the grid size, the higher the resolution of the analysis and the longer the calculation will take. So it is recommended that one start with a large value here and decrease the value as needed. However, the grid size should usually be smaller than the dimensions of the smallest piece of the shade_geo and context in order to yield meaningful results.
timestep
A positive integer for the number of timesteps per hour at which the "LB SunPath" component generated sun vectors. This is used to correctly interpret the time duration represented by each of the input sun vectors. (Default: 1 for 1 vector per hour).
legend_par
Optional legend parameters from the "LB Legend Parameters" that will be used to customize the display of the results.
cpu_count
An integer to set the number of CPUs used in the execution of the intersection calculation. If unspecified, it will automatically default to one less than the number of CPUs currently available on the machine or 1 if only one processor is available.
run [Required]
Set to "True" to run the component and perform shade benefit analysis.
report
...
mesh
A colored mesh of the shade_geo showing where shading is helpful (in blue), and where it does not make much of a difference (white or desaturated colors). Note that the colors can change depending upon the input legend_par.
legend
Legend showing the numeric values of hrs / square unit that correspond to the colors in the shade mesh.
title
A text object for the study title.
shade_help
The cumulative hrs / square unit helped by shading the given cell. If a given square meter of _shade_geo has a shade helpfulness of 10 hrs/m2, this means that a shade in this location blocks an average of 10 hours to each of the _study_points.
Get a ray tracing visualization of direct sunlight rays reflected off of source_geo and subsequently bouncing through a set of context geometries.
Examples where this visualization could be useful include understading the reflection of light by a light shelf or testing to see whether a parabolic glass or metal building geometry might focus sunlight to dangerous levels at certain times of the year.
Note that this component assumes that all sun light is reflected specularly (like a mirror) and, for more detailed raytracing analysis with diffuse scattering, the Honeybee Radiance components should be used.
vector [Required]
A sun vector (typically from the "LB SunPath" component), which will be used to evaluate the light boucing off of the source_geo and through the context.
source_geo [Required]
A brep or mesh representing a surface off of which sun rays first bounce. Lists of breps or meshes are also acceptable. These surfaces will be used to generate the initial sun rays in a grid-like pattern.
context
Breps or meshes for conext geometry, which will reflect the sun rays after they bounce off of the _source_geo.
grid_size [Required]
A positive number in Rhino model units for the average distance between sun ray points to generate along the _source_geo.
bounce_count
An positive integer for the number of ray bounces to trace the sun rays forward. (Default: 1).
first_length
A positive number in Rhino model units for the length of the sun ray before the first bounce. If unspecified, this will be the diagonal of the bounding box surrounding all input geometries.
last_length
A positive number in Rhino model units representing the length of the sun ray after the last bounce. If unspecified, this will be the diagonal of the bounding box surrounding all input geometries.
rays
A list of polylines representing the sun rays traced forward onto the source_geo and then through the context.
int_pts
A data tree of intersection points one one branch for each of the rays above.
-
Compute Incident Radiation values for any sky matrix in real time using the Geometry/Sky intersection matrix produced by the "LB Incident Radiation" component.
Using this component enables one to scroll through radiation on an hour-by-hour or month-by-month basis in a manner that is an order of magnitude faster than running each sky matrix through the "LB Incident Radiation" component.
The speed of this component is thanks to the fact that the Geometry/Sky intersection matrix contains the relationship between the geometry and each patch of the sky. So computing new radiation values is as simple as multiplying the sky matrix by the intersection matrix.
int_mtx [Required]
A Geometry/Sky Intersection Matrix from the "LB Incident Radiation" component. This matrix contains the relationship between each point of the analyzed geometry and each patch of the sky.
sky_mtx [Required]
A Sky Matrix from the "LB Cumulative Sky Matrix" component, which describes the radiation coming from the various patches of the sky. The "LB Sky Dome" component can be used to visualize any sky matrix.
results
A list of numbers that aligns with the points of the original analysis performed with the "LB Incident Radiation" component. Each number indicates the cumulative incident radiation received by each of the points from the sky matrix in kWh/m2. To visualize these radiation values in the Rhino scene, connect these values to the "LB Spatial Heatmap" component along with the mesh output from the original analysis with the "LB Incident Radiation" component.
-
Open a new viewport in Rhino that shows the parallel-projected view from the sun.
This is useful for understanding what parts of Rhino geometry are shaded at a particular hour of the day.
vector [Required]
A sun vector from which the the Rhino view will be generated. Use the "LB SunPath" component to generate sun vectors.
center_pt
The target point of the camera for the Rhino view that will be generated. This point should be close to the Rhino geometry that you are interested in viewing from the sun. If no point is provided, the Rhino origin will be used (0, 0, 0).
width
An optional interger for the width (in pixels) of the Rhino viewport that will be generated.
height
An optional interger for the height (in pixels) of the Rhino viewport that will be generated.
mode
An optional text input for the display mode of the Rhino viewport that will be generated. For example: Wireframe, Shaded, Rendered, etc.
report
The name of the viewport that was opened.
Set the sun in the Rhino scene to correspond to a given location and date/time.
This can be help coordinate Rhino visualizations with Ladybug analyses.
north
A number between -360 and 360 for the counterclockwise difference between the North and the positive Y-axis in degrees. 90 is West and 270 is East. This can also be Vector for the direction to North. (Default: 0)
location [Required]
A ladybug Location that has been output from the "LB Import EPW" component or the "LB Construct Location" component.
hoy [Required]
Script variable rhinoSun
run [Required]
Set to True to run the component set the Rhino Sun.
report
Reports, errors, warnings, etc.
