Solar radiation falling on a building
in a hot climate causes thermal stress to
that building, as it is the main driving
force for heat gain . Sizable knowledge about
solar radiation is now available . Meteorological
stations equipped with measuring instruments
for measurements of solar radiation now operate
in most countries. Presently, solar radiation
on a given location can be assessed from
information obtained from weather satellites.
As seen in the last chapter, complete data,
including beam normal and horizontal diffuse
radiation, are available for most cities
in Southeast Asia .
In this chapter we shall assess the effects
of radiation from the sun on different surfaces
of a building. We shall also examine in details
the geometrical relationships of the position
of the sun, a shading object and the shade
casted on a building. These geometrical relationships
involve objects in 3 dimensions, best dealt
with using vectors. So vectorial representation
is used throughout this chapter. Vector algebra
will be used without specific reference to
any theory. |
