Urban Scale Simulations of Solar Reflections in the Built Environment: Methodology & Validation

Solar reflections are often unavoidable in an urban environment, however as numerous instances around the world have proven; reflections can pose serious risks to human safety by impairing vision and/or causing undesirable or even dangerous heat gains. The authors have developed a computational tool, which accurately and rapidly predicts reflected irradiance levels at varying temporal and spatial resolutions. This tool allows for high-fidelity simulations of how the visible and thermal energy reflected by a building will impact its environment at the early stages of design. This understanding can then inform decision making regarding facade geometry and materiality. This paper describes the methodology followed in creating the tool and validation of its predictions. The simulation tool shows satisfactory levels of agreement with the measured data both in terms of the peak intensity and timing of the reflections for a situation where a concave facade focused reflections to an intense spot.