Making use of Point Cloud for Generating Subtractive Solar Envelopes
More Info
expand_more
Abstract
As a contextual and passive design strategy, solar envelopes play a great role in
determining building mass based on desirable sun access during the predefined
period. With the rapid evolution of digital tools, the design method of solar
envelopes varies in different computational platforms. However, current
approaches still lack in covering the detailed complex geometry and relevant
information of the surrounding context. This, consequently, affects missing
information during contextual analysis and simulation of solar envelopes. This
study proposes a subtractive method of solar envelopes by considering the
geometrical attribute contained in the point cloud of TLS (terrestrial laser
scanner) dataset. Integration of point cloud into the workflow of solar envelopes
not only increases the robustness of final geometry of existing solar envelopes but
also enhances awareness of architects during contextual analysis due to
consideration of surface properties of the existing environment.