PreDesign Analysis with Cylinders and Spheres

Imagine having a simple chart that can allow you to make nearly every orientation design decision with the confidence of comparing numbers. Some might call it cheating to not fully investigate all of the factors involved, but if you don't have the capability to conduct a full thermal analysis here is a quick way to make informed decisions.

But there will always be designers who simply avoid problems with numbers, for whom these tables might not be clear enough. Since I have nothing to gain by letting buildings fail I've found a way to make this process more user friendly, and more convincing I hope:

Using Ecotect I created a simple cylinder faceted into 360 surfaces. I placed my shape in a hot climate where several HOK projects are located and and then ran a quick insolation (also known as Incident Solar Radiation, the cause of solar heat gain) analysis for the course of the year. From these results I can now tell exactly the amount of solar radiation is will reach any unobstructed vertical surface in the project.

Now we have a choice to look at the numbers or colors.

For those not designing vertical walls, now you can now incline with a purpose.