Whilst the detailed design of shading devices is never simple, it becomes much easier and enjoyable when using the right tools.

The new Shading Design Wizard now guides you through the process of designing shading devices to meet complex shading requirements.

One function of this Wizard is to automatically generate the exact shading shape to perfectly shade a window for any specified period.

Other functions in the Wizard allow you to generate cutting planes that follow the path of the sun through the sky. These can be used to cut profiles and generate site solar envelopes.

Alternatively, by tracking solar rays you can quickly see how your own more complex shading and light redirection systems are likely to work under different conditions throughout the year.

Once a complex shading system has been modelled, you can quickly calculate how much solar radiation actually hits any part of the window, either instantaneously or over any date and time range.

Solar Potential

An extremely important feature of ECOTECT is the ability to track the path of incident gains. It is thus possible to select one or more objects plus an analysis grid and use the spatial intensity of the radiation as a shading design tool.

This process allows you to track any solar radiation hitting a window back towards the sun, seeing where and when it passes through an arbitrary spatial grid and summing the relative intensity through each cell. By setting a maximum threshold, the exact size of the required shading device can be instantly displayed.

This way, rather than design-test-redesign, you can effectively 'dial-up' the size of a shading device to match exactly either the maximum instantaneous incident gains or a total annual/seasonal value.

This exact process can also be useful when determining the most effective location for roof glazing to maximise winter sun on the southern-most end of a stadia playing surfaces.

Projected Shading Rays

This option uses ray-tracing techniques to determine not only where shading is required, but also what intensity of solar radiation needs to be protected from. Thus, this method can account for both relative solar intensity as well as existing obstructions over the whole site.

Sprayed solar rays.

Shading projection.

Shading Design & Solar Analysis

Excessive solar exposure is one of the main causes of summer overheating in buildings, even in relatively cold climates. However, it is also one of the most effective sources of natural energy available to you in winter. Thus, shading systems and the analysis of solar gains are inextricably linked. A detailed consideration of solar access and incident solar radiation as outlined in the next section is therefore fundamental to any successful shading design.