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Proceedings of eSim 2016: 9th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

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Urban solar reflection identification, simulation, analysis and mitigation: learning from case studies

Ryan Danks, Joel Good

Abstract: Recent media attention has highlighted several cases where solar reflections from building facades caused serious impacts on their surroundings. Impacts range from general nuisance to property damage and human safety concerns. The trend in new construction of high window-to-wall ratios and increased use of reflective facade materials will presumably increase the frequency and impact of urban solar reflections. This paper reviews several solar reflection case studies performed by the authors conducted using a custom simulation tool. The assessment of reflection severity (both in a pre-construction, predictive context and a post-construction forensic context), mitigation effectiveness, and on-site measurement programs validating the predictions are all explored. Lessons learned during these studies which are applicable to the broader building performance simulation community are also discussed, including: selecting appropriate input data for simulations, the strengths and weaknesses of the various metrics used to describe reflection impacts, and effectively communicating findings to a lay-person.
Pages: 705 - 714
Paper:
esim2016_31-85