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New MS-Windows-Based Educational Software for Teaching the Sunpath Diagram and Shading Mask Protractor
Abstract
The well-known versions of the sunpath diagrams and
shading mask protractors that appear in the AIA's
Architectural Graphics Standards are based on the
equidistant projections and use a shading mask protractor
developed by Olgyay and Olgyay at Princeton University
in the 1950s. A designer using the AIA's Graphics
Standards book, or other printed versions of the sunpath
diagram must select the nearest latitude, make
photocopies of the appropriate sunpath diagram and
shading mask protractor, and then overlay the shading
mask protractor upon the diagram in the proper
orientation. The outline of the shading device is then
transcribed upon the shading mask, aligned at the proper
orientation for the facade in which the window is being
analyzed, and placed on top of the sunpath diagram to
determine if a point centered at the base of the window is
exposed to direct sunlight. Obviously, teaching this
process to architects and engineers is tedious and error-prone
since the students must calculate several angles to
ascertain whether or not a given shading device is going
to work as planned and then painstakingly transcribe their
calculations onto the printed sunpath diagram and
shading mask protractor.
This paper describes a new MS-Windows-based
educational software package that has been developed to
fast-track the learning and use of the sunpath diagram and
shading mask protractor which is based on previously
published equations for plotting the sunpath diagram and
shading mask protractor. Examples will be provided that
demonstrate some basic configurations of shading devices
that are often misrepresented in the standard literature.
Citation
Oh, J. K. W.; Haberl, J. S. (1996). New MS-Windows-Based Educational Software for Teaching the Sunpath Diagram and Shading Mask Protractor. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /6694.