In this previous tutorial, it was demonstrated how to achieve the requirement of calculating a ‘direct beam of radiation from the sun’ for the purposes of solar access. However, most environmental analysis software use illuminance-based analysis where results depend on how much light bounces off the interior surfaces of your model, the glazing transparency, and the sky model specified. This tutorial therefore explores how to use Autodesk’s Insight to run various illuminance-based lighting analyses and discusses its limitations for calculating solar access.
Background
Insight is broken down into two parts – lighting and solar – and is based on the underlying analysis engine. Anything under ‘Solar’ uses the Perez sky model calculation for solar insolation and is beyond the scope of this tutoiral. Conversely, anything located under ‘Lighting’ uses the A360 rendering engine and is an illuminance-based analysis.
Illuminance is a measurement of light…