Command
Shadow Coverage is available from the Other Utilities panel.
Purpose
The Shadow Coverage utility analyses the percentage shadow coverage of the targeted elements (external walkways, sitting areas, play areas etc). It is often a stated information requirement for construction projects in the hot climates (e.g. Middle East) to ensure that external spaces are designed in a way that will enable a minimum percentage of shadow coverage at defined times/dates.
Traditionally multiple pieces of software and a variety of different processes have been required to accurately test and record the level of shadow that will be achievable for external spaces and often this will take a considerable number of man-days to complete. The need to improve the efficiency to achieve results is a significant benefit and enables users to repeat the exercise a number of times and undertake 'what-if' scenarios to test model designs that would not have been practicable previously.
Usage
The Shadow Analysis tool enables users to select a target area (external walkways, sitting areas, play areas etc), to analyse the shadow cast on the target area and finally to return the result of the percentage of the target area cast in shadow at the allocated time, date and geographic location and real world orientation of the model. In addition to reporting the calculated Percentage Shadow Cover for the target area, a graphical output of the predicted shadow area is also created.