Publication date: July 2016
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 103
Author(s): Ryan Danks, Joel Good, Ray Sinclair
In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the risks posed to people and property from uncontrolled solar reflections from the built environment. Despite the severity of the risks, there is surprisingly little regulation regarding such reflections. Presumably, part of the reason for this lack of regulation is that there are no universally accepted criteria from the scientific community defining acceptable limits of reflected visible light and thermal irradiance in the urban realm. Without appropriate guidance, the regulations which are employed by cities may not be appropriate and designers have no means to judge the impact of a potential building's reflections until after its built. This paper presents a review of existing regulations and metrics related to the impact of visible light and thermal energy on people and property. It also proposes quantitative criteria which the authors have developed for use in design and construction in order to help architects and designers understand the level of impact their building's reflections will have on its neighbors. The literature that the proposed criteria are based on is still limited in breadth. It is our hope that the research and design communities will further develop the criteria and tools that will benefit designers and city regulators.
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 103
Author(s): Ryan Danks, Joel Good, Ray Sinclair