ECOTECT features a new Right-to-Light Wizard to step you through the analysis of site projection angles, the assessment of obstructions, the calculation of Vertical Sky Components for any point or surface and visualisation of the no-sky-line in any space.
The wizard allows you to generate angled test planes from each window/facade being studied, or to physically project and colour exactly which parts of a building or development are infringing.
Based on the same sun-path diagrams and point distributions as used in the BRE Guidelines, you can automatically calculate Vertical Sky Components and Daylight Factors for any windows or surfaces.
In much the same way as solar radiation, vertical sky components can be mapped over facades. The wizard can also step you through before/after studies in order to map percentage differences.
If you are really keen, you can use a script to iteratively increment the height of different parts of your site, constantly checking the right-to-light of each surrounding window until the optimal compliant site envelope is found. For more information, see the Natural Frequency Smart Modelling article.
