This component is used to define a horizon to include the effects of terrain and/or more distant tall buildings on the shading of the simulated building. It can be selected at when at site level using the Horizon component browse control on the Location model data tab, under the Site Details > Horizon headers.
A horizon elevation angle is defined for each direction (orientation) around the building.
The Increment angle indicates the level of granularity you wish to use for defining different horizon elevations for each orientation. The lower the increment the more detailed the horizon. Select an increment from the list of options:
90 - define only 4 horizon elevation values, one for each cardinal direction.
45
30
22.5
15
12
10 - define 36 different elevation values at 10 degree orientation intervals.
For most accurate modelling select 10° increments.
DesignBuilder models the horizon by adding a series of vertical rectangular shading surfaces to the EnergyPlus input file using the increment and elevation data defined on this dialog. These shading surfaces are added in a circle around the model centre at a radius defined by this Distance to horizon setting. The default distance is 100 m or 328.08 ft.
Enter the horizon elevation for each orientation. Orientation angles are defined as clockwise East from North, so the elevation for 90° represents the elevation of the horizon when looking East for example.
The Increment set above defines the list of orientations displayed.