ARC 350R/386M
Solar Geometry
Francisco Arumi

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CREDIT:
First Semester, Third Year Design Enrichment Course

GRADUATE COURSE CREDIT:

First Professional Program:
Theory III
Emphasis in "Design with Climate"
Certificate in "Design with Climate"

Post Professional Program:
Specialization in "Design with Climate"

Academic Program (M.S.A.S.)
Specialization in "Design with Climate"

OBJECTIVE

To understand the interaction of the sun with architectural form as it relates to energy sensitive and thermal comfort design.

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH

It will follow the seminar format. Formal class presentations are interlaced with class discussions. The discussions will be based both on formal presentations and on outside reading. The material will be supplemented with appropriate computer programs.

In addition to the reading and presentation common to all students there will be individual projects that each student will study in greater depth and report back to the class. There will also be a final project to be executed either individually or in teams. The final project will be a design study that integrates the basic principles learned during the course of the semester.

TOPICS

solar orbit and apparent solar motion
solar coordinates and climactic classification
relative insolation and solar gain
solar controls
solar views to study an entire building from one moment in time
fish eye views to study the annual exposure from one point in space

COURSE OUTLINE

week 1
Solar path and solar tables
week 2
Solar path and solar tables
week 3
Solar path and solar tables
week 4
Shadow casting.
week 5
Solar views.
week 6
Spherical projections. "Fish eye views"
week 7
Spherical projections. "Fish eye views" (Mid semester)
week 8
Spherical projections. "Fish eye views"
week 9
Solar gain
week 10
Solar gain week 11
Design of Solar Controls
week 12
Design of Solar Controls
week 13
Integration
week 14
Thanksgiving
week 15
Last week of classes

ASSIGNMENTS

Choose a site and measure the cardinal directions, the solar time and the latitude. Do it three (3) times: before Sep. 1; on Sep 21; and around Oct. 12 .Do it by studying the shadows on a flat horizontal surface and on a vertical surface. Use the solar tables to predict the results graphically.

Use the solar data to plot the solar paths for latitudes 0 degrees, 30 degrees N and 60 degrees N. Use 8 1/2 x 11 decimal graph paper. Draw the zenith vs. the south positions for the 7 design days for one of the latitudes on one sheet of paper. Draw the south vs. the east positions for the 7 design days for one of the latitudes on one sheet of paper. We will use the south vs. east for spherical projections. Use the same size circle to make your spherical mask.

Model a 20,000 ft3 building as a box. Choose your Latitude. Assign 15% of the vertical areas as windows. Calculate the daily insolation and solar gain on the building for the design day of Jan and Jul, Lat 30 degrees N. Select proportions, and material properties to your taste. Find the optimum proportions for the same window areas and material properties. Shade the windows in the summer.

Repeat the winter solar gain calculation shading the windows. Use the same proportions as in the previous problem 1. Shade the south and north. 2. Shade the east and west. 3. Shade all of them.

Consider the windows as rectangles with a base to height ratio 3:2. Design the overhangs for the windows so that they are shaded on Aug. 21 and exposed on Feb. 21. Do it for each of the 4 orientations.

Test your solutions by: a) shadow casting; b) with spherical projections, and c) with solar views.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Environment, Power and Society, Odum, H.T. Wiley Interscience, 1971.
Thermal Comfort, P.O.Fanger, McGraw Hill 1972
Energy and Form, Ralph L. Knowles, MIT Press 1974
Energy, Environment, and Buildings, Steadman, P. Cambridge U. Press, 1975.
Energy Conservation Through Building Design, D.Watson, Ed., McGraw Hill, 1979
Thermal Inertia in Architectural Walls, F. Arumi, NCMA, 1977
Audubon House, Croxton Collaborative, Arch, Wiley, 1994