ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with methods to manage the considerations—designing for shade and solar exposure. The solar vector envelope is the imaginary surface modeled by the sweep of the solar ray throughout the course of a day. The balance point of a building is the outdoor temperature below which heating is necessary to offset heat loss through the envelope and maintain comfortable indoor conditions. Using knowledge of the solar vector envelope, building balance point, climatic knowledge, and glass properties, the designer can establish effective shading and exposure criteria. A shading mask is a tool for expressing shading and exposure criteria and generating shading geometry. The most commonly recognized shading angle is the vertical shading angle (VSA). The VSA is the lowest profile angle of the solar ray relative to a building surface during a shading period. Latitude has a major impact on the effectiveness of shading strategies due to differences in tilt of the solar path band relative to building surfaces.
