Methodology for Determining the Optimal Size for a South-Facing Horizontal Visor Based on Different Design Periods

Reasonable shading measures can reduce the solar radiation and the cooling load in summer. Due to the outdoor climatic conditions, solar elevation angles and azimuth angles change with time, and the effect of the sun shading design is closely related to the design period. To the authors’ knowledge, little research work reported in the opening literature has been made on quantitative analysis of differences in shading evaluation under different design periods. In this paper, the analysis is conducted in five typical cities in hot summer and cold winter zone of China (Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha and Guilin). Firstly, different design periods are obtained according to different shading requirements. Then, performing a quantitative analysis on the sun shading effects of the south-facing horizontal visors in different design periods is based on the self-coding. Finally, according to the shading effects, the optimal sizes for south-facing horizontal visors are obtained. These results can provide references for the shading design.