Geometry evaluation of a shading device through parametric modeling.

Abstract

The Mexican territory is one of the areas with the highest solar irradiance in the world. This is made up of a broad electromagnetic spectrum, within which is visible radiation, under which we humans have evolved and developed our sense of sight. Natural light is a resource that must be used to achieve visual comfort and energy savings in the development of our activities. In turn, daylight contributes to thermal gains in space through openings and windows. It is because of this that, throughout history, different types of shading devices have been developed, which are calculated from the solar geometry of a given geographical point. However, its calculation becomes difficult when using complex geometries. In the present work, the design of a kirigami-based shading device for openings is proposed, which through cuts and folds, can vary its geometry, so that it can be adapted to the particular conditions of different architectural envelopes. Its evaluation was carried out through a quasi-experiment for three different geometric openings configurations, using parametric modeling tools, such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper. The results indicate that the opening of 0.55m is the geometric variation with a better relationship between the percentage of shadow and the number of modules required to cover the opening.