Solar Energy Vol. 70, No. 3, pp.

187–200, 2001
 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd
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TOWNSCOPE II—A COMPUTER SYSTEM TO SUPPORT SOLAR ACCESS

DECISION-MAKING
J. TELLER† and S. AZAR
LEMA (Center for Architectural and Urban Design Studies), Department of Architecture, Civil Engineering
Faculty, University of Liege, 1, Chemin des Chevrenils, BS2 / 3, 4000, Liege, Belgium

Abstract—TOWNSCOPE II is a computer system devoted to support solar access decision-making in a

sustainable urban design perspective. The software consists of a three-dimensional urban information system
coupled with solar evaluation tools. We’ve paid particular attention to the fact that numerical results
interpretation proves to be all but trivial in complex built environments. It is nevertheless a crucial aspect in
decision-making, especially for current negotiated urban design practices. Therefore it is important to develop
visual instruments in order to unveil the geometrical mechanisms lying behind the final results. Various
spherical projections were thereby developed, each of them presenting specific advantages and disadvantages
for solar access visualisation and / or evaluation purposes.  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION burden to the designers, but as some ‘free guid-

ance’ included within a more comprehensive
This work took place within the POLIS project
urban management system. Obviously, this spe-
(1996–1998), whose financial support was the
cific advantage had not only to be maintained but
European Commission — DG XII, Directorate ‘F’
further developed by future POLIS developments.
— R&TD: Energy. POLIS’s main objective was
We thus included diffuse and reflected along with
to produce a design guidance on urban layout to
direct solar radiation, as well as wind patterns and
ensure good access to solar gain, daylighting and
urban morphology analyses. Additionally, much
passive cooling. Considering this general objec-
effort was devoted to the diffusability of the
tive, several developments were proposed,
software, which was thereby redeveloped for
amongst which a computer software
Windows NT instead of UNIX workstations.
(TOWNSCOPE II), a manual design guide, solar
There have already been many attempts to
analytical methods, and comparative measure-
facilitate solar conscious design through the use
ments.
of computer technologies. Evaluative tools, as
TOWNSCOPE II was a follow-up of a prior
defined by Capuleto and Shaviv (1997), often
research, CAM.UR, developed in the 80s by the
took advantage of visualisation as a convenient
LEMA ? ULg under the sponsorship of a previous
and synthetic way to present quantitative or
EC funding 1 . CAM.UR (Computer Aided Man-
qualitative simulation results (Peckham, 1988;
agement System for Urban Renewal) consisted of
Jansen et al., 1988; Goretzki, 1989; Peneau, 1989;
a computer software devoted to sustainable urban
Yezioro and Shaviv, 1994 and Niewienda and
design, which mainly focused on direct solar
Heidt, 1996).
radiation and renewal costs calculation (Dupagne,
When redevelopping TOWNSCOPE, we con-
1991).
sidered that visual instruments could play a
A specific feature of CAM.UR was to couple
greater role in solar design. If properly designed,
these solar evaluation tools with an integrated
they can support some form of analysis and
Urban Information System, including traditional
reasoning about the geometrical mechanisms un-
visualisation instruments, data acquisition, ma-
derlying the numerical results. If valid ‘deductive
nipulation and storing facilities, information man-
inference’ consists in making explicit an infor-
agement techniques etc. In this way, sustainable
mation that is only implicit in the information
concerns would no longer appear as an additional
already obtained, visual instruments could be a
support of inference and argumentation as valid as
† numerical results (Barwise and Etchemendy,
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail:
jacques.teller@ulg.ac.be 1996). But they have to be characterized by
1
CCE-DGXII, 3rd European R&D non nuclear energy pro- specific properties which are not present in all
gramme, PASTOR sub-programme. visualisation modes (perspective, plans and the

187
188 J. Teller and S. Azar
like). More specifically, they have to present some
‘homomorphism’ with the target domain, direct,
diffuse or reflected radiation in our case. Homo-
morphism means here that the visualisation re-
spects the properties of the studied phenomenon
within a defined field. An axonometric view of a
3D model, taking the sun’s position as its view
direction, can be considered homomorphic with
direct radiation at that time of the day. Similar
properties could be found for other domains /
analyses, provided that they are supported by
adequate representations (Dupagne and Teller,
1998).
This paper is a technical description of this new
TOWNSCOPE version, illustrated by some exam-
ples produced during the POLIS research. The
Information System organisation is briefly pre-
sented. Most available Geographical Information
Systems are basically manipulating 2D informa-
tion. As solar computations are basically three
dimensionnal, a specific structure had to be
proposed. It is then discussed why spherical
geometry is well adapted to the built environment
representation and analysis. Their construction
method, and the way it is translated in computer
algorithms, is briefly exposed. Further sections
apply these concepts to solar access evaluation /
visualisation: direct, diffuse and reflected radia-
tion, thermal comfort and confinement feeling.
2. INFORMATION SYSTEM ORGANISATION
Considering that local improvements solely
applied to a single building solar performances
may have negative effects on its surrounding built
environment, TOWNSCOPE was deliberately lo-
cated at an urban design detail level. Urban design
is commonly defined as an intermediate scale
between architecture and urban planning (Punter
and Carmona, 1997). Its concerns are the three-
dimensional interactions between urban open
spaces and their surrounding buildings as well as
between the many components of an urban open
space (roadways, pavement, vegetation, etc.).
These interactions are traditionally a source of
‘urban conflicts’ between private and public inter-
ests. Solar accessibility and control does not
escape this situation, with an increasing number
of judicial resorts concerning ‘solar access dis-
putes’ in nothern Europe. Obviously, one cannot
assume that any new construction may definitive-
ly deprive its neighbourhood solar access. On the
other hand, it would neither be sustainable to
freeze urban redevelopment in order to preserve
all ‘de facto’ situations, with exceptional solar
access, that people claim to preserve.
These difficulties could only become harder
with future sustainable energy demands. It is
indeed well known that potential energy gains,
may they be heating or lighting loads, are very
sensitive to the site layout, especially in nothern
latitudes. Design studies in the UK have shown
that the benefits of passive solar design can be
halved if the site layout is inappropriate. Large
obstructions both reduce the amount of daylight
entering a room and worsen its distribution: a 458
obstruction can reduce lighting energy savings by
20–25% (Crisp et al., 1988). Photovoltaic facades
are very highly sensitive to the built environment
characteristics, with losses around 20% for limited
obstructions.
The quality of public open spaces themselves is
another major concern, due to their cultural and
social meanings. Obviously, the amenity of these
spaces can also be largely affected by solar access
conditions. Yet, as there are few if any direct
private interests in this case, open spaces amenity
is seldom regarded by natural and reliable
stakeholders as for as private buildings. Especially
when the people using the space are not limited to
the ones living in it.
Both these aspects, ‘legitimate solar access
losses’ and ‘open spaces amenity’, should normal-
ly be regarded by public authorities. Municipal
regulations, prospects and so on can be considered
as primary means to achieve this regulation.
Unfortunately, these instruments appear misfitted
to most cases where some negotiation is required
between the various interest in competition. They
provide few if any justification of the decisions
taken. They usually don’t consider the site natural
obstructions and historical background.
TOWNSCOPE has been precisely developed to
provide local authorities with more objective,
quantifiable arguments of the decisions taken. It is
based on solar computations that consider the
actual 3D site where the project takes place,
which includes the construction itself of course,
but also its neighbours and the public open
spaces. In the 80s version, TOWNSCOPE urban
data model was thus organised as illustrated by
Fig. 1, where arrows stand for ‘many-to-one’
relations.
Prior to redevelopment, we reconsidered this
model and concluded that it was excessively static
(Dupagne and Teller, 1997): nothing was foreseen
for the users to add their own defined entities.
They had to use the built-in entities and nothing
else. We decided that this limitation, partly de-
 TOWNSCOPE II 189

Fig. 1. TOWNSCOPE I urban data model (arrows stand for ‘many-to-one’ relations).

rived from technical considerations issued from
relational databases, should be overcome by fu-
ture software. It is indeed quite unfitted to the
urban context where projects are quite unique and
will often require specific entities. It was seen that
more general classes should be developed, that the
user could refine. These general classes were
based on a clear distinction between built-in 3D
geometrical objects and urban entities that the
user could define and / refine according to its
needs. The whole software was redeveloped with
an object-oriented language, namely CLOS (Com-
mon Lisp Object System) to improve its modulari-
ty and portability (Keene, 1988).
TOWNSCOPE II geometrical representation
was thus based on five basic OO-classes (Fig. 2):
point3D, polyline, border, face and volume. All
these classes are included in the software as
‘defined once and for all’ since they are the
primary inputs for all evaluations. A Point 3D is
naturally represented by x, y, z coordinates. These
3D points can be shared by a number of polylines
(many-to-many relation). Borders are closed poly-
lines. Faces are borders whose points must be
co-planar.
The volume representation is a traditional BRep
(boundary representation): as in most 3D solid
modelers, volumes are described through their
constituting faces (Samet, 1990). Faces can be
shared by several volumes (many-to-many rela-
tion). Given that the 3D description of the built
environment would often require a great number
of volumes, we did not use the non primitive
‘shell’ and ‘loop’ topological entities in the model

Fig. 2. TOWNSCOPE II model (arrows stand for ‘is-a’ relations and links for ‘part-of’ relations).
190 J. Teller and S. Azar
in order to make the geometrical representation as
concise as possible. In practice, it means that we
cannot make holes in our volumes, which seems
to be a reasonable limitation in an urban design
context.
TOWNSCOPE provides two different data
acquisition modes for these 3D objects:
(a) data importation and exportation between
TOWNSCOPE and commercial solid modelers
(AUTOCADE for instance) via a static exchange
format (DXF).
(b) direct data acquisition tools, a digitiser and /
or mouse1screen, for the additional information
encoding and manipulation. This interface is
composed of a very simple solid modeler and
some basic GUI functionalities. Triangulation
algorithms (mostly based on Delaunay techniques)
afford a simple and convenient way to define
ground and other irregular surfaces through sets
of points or level curves.
All previous TOWNSCOPE high level abstract
concepts (roads, buildings, etc.) are now dynam-
ically defined by the user through entities. Each
kind of entity is described through (i) a single
geometrical representation (one-to-many relation)
1 (ii) eventual attributes (string, number, option
list). For instance a plot is described through an
outline (border), an owner (string), a plot number
(string or integer), a surface (number). The defini-
tion, manipulation and attribution of the entities
are wholly realized through the TOWNSCOPE
graphical interface.
Finally, collections are sets of geometrical
objects which will support all major
TOWNSCOPE evaluation functions (solar access,
thermal comfort, urban analyses), as well as
information system functionalities (saving, export-
ing, etc). These structures are provided to support
multiple project combinations. In this way, the
user can combine (add, substract, intersect) col-
lection sets in order to determine the effective
model he wants to compute the solar evaluations
on. This proves to be a very convenient way to
control memory size and thereby computation
time of the analyses.
3. SPHERICAL PROJECTIONS AS A SOLAR
ACCESS DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT TOOL
TOWNSCOPE is provided with a number of
evaluation tools coupled to this database. Their
aim is to support solar access decision-making.
Two major constraints derived from this general
objective: reduce meteorological and other spe-
cific data as much as possible so that preliminary
evaluations can be rapidly achieved and provide
decision-makers with reliable visual instruments
so as to support their argumentation with ‘objec-
tive’ material.
For the first objective, data encoding was
limited to a minimum by using Dogniaux’s
(1984) theoretical methods for determining avail-
able hourly radiation values in clear site. Required
geographical and meteorological data are latitude,
humidity, turbidity and altitude, s / s0 2 for the 12
months of the year, EDhcs / EBhcs 3 for the 12
months of the year. Obviously, when available,
more precise meteorological data could also be
used.
We have also decided to make an intensive use
of spherical projections for both evaluation and
visualisation purposes. Numerical results may not
prove to be sufficient in an urban decision-making
perspective. A clear understanding of the thermal
mechanisms leading to these results would be just
as important for argumentation purposes. Espe-
cially since bargaining and negotiation constitute
the daily practice of most current urban design
decision-makers (see Forester, 1989 and Healey,
1992). When solar computations were performed
‘manually’, the understanding of the final results
was certainly a by-product of the effort to produce
them. Obviously, this is no longer the case when
these evaluations are wholly computerized. In this
case the mechanisms underlying the final results
don’t appear that obvious any longer, especially in
very complex configurations like traditional built
environment (Fig. 9). This is why developing
instruments not only offer numerical results but
also a visual support for their analysis.
Spherical geometry appears well suited to this
objective (Dupagne and Teller, 1998). In short,
once projected onto a sphere, all objects’ dimen-
sions are relative to their distance compared to the
observer: a small, proximate object projection can
be as important as a large one, but more distant.
Spherical projections would thus allow visual
comparisons of the relative characteristics of
different urban forms, from different points, even
if they don’t share the same absolute characteris-
tics.
More significantly, spherical projections offer
synthetic representations of a whole three-dimen-
2
‘Sky clarity’ determined by the ratio of effective insulation
duration as measured with an heliograph on maximal
potential insulation duration for the day.
3
Ratio of diffuse radiation on a horizontal plane by clear sky
on direct radiation on a horizontal plane by clear sky.
 TOWNSCOPE II
sional environment, without necessarily focusing
on specific buildings like traditional perspectives.
This is a very significant advantage since quality
and legibility of open spaces often lies in the
interactions of all their enclosing elements,
whether they are simultaneously viewed by an
observer or not.
Basically, the spherical projection of a 3D point
is computed in two different steps:
1. projection of the point from the 3D Cartesian
space to a 2D sphere and
2. projection from the 2D sphere to a plane. Four
characteristic spherical projections are illus-
trated by Fig. 3: gnomonic, stereo, orthogonal
and isoaire projections.
The second step of the projection, from the
sphere to a plane, characterizes the different
projection properties, since a spherical surface
cannot be ‘unrolled’ on a plane surface without
some ‘deformations’. Either the 3D lines are
transformed into 2D lines (gnomonic), or the
angular distances are respected (equidistant), or
the relative angles are respected (stereo) and so
on. There is no projection that presents all these
properties simultaneously. Far from seeing this
‘mathematical impossibility’ as a lacuna, we
consider ‘spherical projections relativism’ as a
major advantage: there can’t be any ‘best pos-
sible’ transformation. They all present clearly
identified advantages and disadvantages since
their ‘homomorphic properties’ with 3D world
phenomenons are well known and defined.
Eventually, the field of possible transformations
remains open for further investigation, driven by
specific application demands.
Technically, a line spherical projection is com-
puted through a recursive algorithm, which con-
sists in projecting intermediate segments of the
line. The termination condition of the algorithm is
that the 2D-projection of the middle-point of a
Fig. 3. Construction method of four spherical projections.
191
segment is closer than a given precision (general-
ly one pixel) from the arc that joins the projection
of extreme points of the segment. The algorithm
takes the line as its initial segment, proceeds with
the two parts of the segment and so on until the
termination condition is verified. As a result, the
projection of a line will produce a polyline
constituted by the collection of its projected
intermediate segments. This is a very generic way
to calculate any kind of spherical projection,
provided that one knows the transformation func-
tions of 3D points to the 2D plane (see appendix
for such transformation functions). Polylines,
borders, faces and volumes spherical projection
are realized through their line projections.
Hidden views algorithm draws on the so-called
‘depth-sort method’ (Foley and Van Dam, 1983).
Initially conceived for traditional perspectives,
this algorithm proceeds by sorting faces according
to their display order (the farther from the ob-
server, the latest in the heap), with eventual face
clippings for degenerated cases. As this algorithm
has been wholly implemented through spherical
geometry (Petillon, 1994), it is now completely
independent from the sphere to plane projection
method. It means that once it’s been calculated for
one point, this ‘face heap’ can serve for several
analyses.
This is a very significant advantage for all solar
access evaluations, since we’ll see that most of
these analyses require a specific ‘treatment’ of a
point’s spherical world. Especially, it is possible
to determine the elements ‘visible’ from one point
once this heap has been processed. As these
elements are the only ones to be effectively
considered by solar access analyses, it drastically
reduces the complexity of all further computations
and makes them somehow more independent of
the extent area of the 3D model.
4. DIRECT AND TRANSMITTED RADIATION
Within TOWNSCOPE, direct radiation is
‘calculated on the sphere’: the projection from the
sphere to the plane is never used by the computa-
tions. All algorithms are based on geometrical
analysis equations, like rotations, plane intersec-
tions and spherical geometry. Solar paths are
known as circle arcs determined by the intersec-
tion of the sun’s declination plane with the
reference sphere. Despite the fact they are not
‘great circle’ arcs of the sphere (except for the
equinox when the sun’s trajectory is included in a
plane crossing the origin), it is possible, by
192 J. Teller and S. Azar
analytical geometry equations, to determine their
intersections with any line of the 3D model
projected on the same sphere.
Direct radiation computation of solar access on
a given day will thus proceed by:
1. projection of all the model volumes on the
unitary sphere, with a vertical view direction,
2. spherical intersection between their spherical
faces and the solar path on this day,
3. if intersections appear, determine them and
store them in an ‘obstruction list’.
The program considers partial solar masks,
through transmissivity and diffusion factors ap-
plied to the volumes. A volume transmissivity has
been defined through 12 monthly values in order
to take into consideration the possible variable
density of foliage. Its diffusion is always defined
through one factor. Consequently, the obstruction
list not only stores the successive interceptions of
the sun by various volumes, but also their respec-
tive ‘direct mask’, which combines transmission
on this day with diffusion factors.
Once all the volumes have been processed, the
program knows each obstruction for the computa-
tion day. Traditionally, the steps 2 and 3 of the
above algorithm are immediately carried out for
12 days of the year so as to get yearly results.
Consequently all ‘direct radiation obstructions’
affecting a point can be determined through a
single projection and its subsequent operations. It
is no longer necessary to make a new projection
for each position of the sun as with traditional
direct radiation evaluation methods and this algo-
rithm does not require heavy numerical operations
like polygons clipping (Dupagne, 1991) or double
buffer manipulations (Yezioro and Shaviv, 1994).
This is a very important property given the huge
size of common urban design models (see Fig. 11:
16.323 points, 6037 faces, 2632 volumes).
The direct solar radiation reaching point at hour
T of a given day is simply determined through a
linear interpolation, considering the radiation du-
ration (weighted by its masks) from T230’ to
T 130’ and the available solar radiation at T230’
and T 130’ on this day. It should be noted that
taking a vertical view direction for the initial
projection (step 1) simplifies all subsequent ana-
lytical operations. Yet, the face orientation has to
be considered through the cartesian product of the
face normal by the sun direction at the given time
and day when one determines the available direct
radiation.
The result of the evaluation may be monthly or
yearly values of the direct radiation available in a
point. Given the efficiency of the algorithm, it can
be repeated on a path or on a grid for plotting the
direct radiation spatial distribution on any surface
(Figs 5 and 6).
5. SOLAR PATHS VISUALISATION
The most basic application of spherical projec-
tions for solar access purposes is probably the
solar paths visualisation. The program computes
and displays a spherical projection of all
geometrical objects and draws solar paths above
all. This evaluation is performed in a specific
viewpoint of the model, with a vertical view
direction. It produces a simple, but comprehensive
graphic of yearly direct radiation reaching a
certain point. This instrument can be used to
visualize the most important obstacles, hours of
sun at any month of the year, etc. These solar
paths are usually displayed in gnomonic or
stereographical projections. For TOWNSCOPE II,
we decided to prefer stereographicals to
gnomonics for the following reasons.
Gnomonic projections distinctive property is
that great circle arcs of the sphere are transformed
into lines in the projection plane (see Fig. 3). The
main weakness of this projection is that mathe-
matically the representation is not bounded: points
located on the plane z 5 0 should be projected at
an infinite distance from the projection centre. It
means that, in ‘closed environments’, like urban
open spaces, where the physical world literally
surrounds the observer, the ‘frame’ of a gnomonic
projection is a restriction that has to be either
‘arbitrarily’ decided by its author or ‘accidentally’
by the material support of the projection. Contrary
to this, stereographic, orthogonal and isoaire
projections are all mathematically bounded. All
these projections offer through one single syn-
thetic view, a visualisation of the whole environ-
ment visible from one point.
Furthermore, stereographical transformations
are mathematically ‘conform’: tangents angles are
conserved after the sphere-to-plane projection. A
circle drawn on the sphere, solar paths for in-
stance, is thus projected as a circle in the plane.
Lines crossing at a right angle in the 3D world are
represented as curves crossing at right angles in
the plane. In this way, stereographical projections
can be used as a reliable qualitative instrument for
urban open space enclosure and visible sky repre-
sentations, without excessive distortions of the
initial 3D shapes (Fig. 7).
6. ISOTROPIC DIFFUSE RADIATION
For the visualisation of diffuse radiation ob-
structions, sky luminance distribution can be
 TOWNSCOPE II
assumed to be perfectly isotropic. Under these
conditions, orthogonal projections (see Fig. 3) are
better suited to built environment representations
than stereographicals. Orthogonal transformation
respects the view factor between an elementary
horizontal surface located at the origin of the axes
and any face of the 3D model. This view factor
can be directly measured through the ratio be-
tween the projected polygon representing the face
(S2) and the reference circle area (see Fig. 4). As
isotropic diffuse radiation reaching a point is
directly proportional to the sky view factor, it can
be immediately visualized in orthogonal projec-
tions through the area of visible sky (Fig. 8).
In practice, orthogonal projections can be com-
puted from any point of the model, with a view
direction given by the face normal. For horizontal
surfaces, this direction would be the zenith. For
vertical surfaces, this view direction would be
horizontal. Orthogonal projections can thus be
used by decision-makers as a visual instrument to
detect major diffuse radiation obstacles. Even if it
is not necessarily constant on the whole area of a
given face (except for very simple configurations),
it can be considered as a very synthetic way to
compare various alternatives and eventually un-
derstand further numerical results at specific
points.
Orthogonal projections can also be used for
isotropic diffuse radiation calculations, through
the product of orthogonal sky visibility (percent-
age) by available diffuse radiation on unob-
structed horizontal surfaces. The orthogonal sky
visibility has a similar way of proceeding as direct
radiation, except that it considers projected areas
in the circle instead of projected lines on the
sphere. Each volume is projected within the
reference circle as a polygon with a mask. This
polygon adds itself to the ones previously project-
ed. If polygons cover each other, their masks have
to be combined. Consequently, when a new
Fig. 4. View factors in orthogonal projection method.
193
polygon is projected, the program tests if it covers
any existing polygon. If so, their intersections and
differences are determined. Intersection masks are
equal to the combination of the two polygons
masks. The orthogonal sky visibility at a certain
point is given by the complement value of ratio
between (i) the weighting of these areas and mask
and (ii) the reference circle area. As for direct
radiation, this computation can be repeated along
grids or lines so as to plot diffuse radiation
variations on any face.
7. SKY COMPONENT INDICATOR
For more precise diffuse radiation estimations,
calculations are based on the CIE standard over-
cast sky, through the calculation of a sky com-
ponent indicator. The CIE sky distribution proves
to be more compliant with real sky conditions
than isotropic distribution. Furthermore, the sky
component indicator can be related to the average
daylight factor in a room, which is one basis for
recommendations on UK interior daylighting
(BSI, 1992). Littlefair (1991) considers that ‘a
building face as a whole should have good
daylighting potential if every point located on a 2
m above ground reference line is within 4 m
(measured sideways) of a point with a vertical sky
component of 27% or more’.
CIE sky distribution assumes that, on a com-
pletely overcast day, the sky luminance is virtual-
ly symmetrical with respect to the zenith. Yet, the
luminance is lower at the horizon than overhead.
The gradation of luminance from zenith to
horizon is expressed by Eq. (1).
Lz
Lg 5 ] (1 1 2 sin g ) (1)
3
where Lz 5luminance of the sky at the zenith,
Lg 5luminance of the sky at an altitude of g
degrees above the horizon.
For inclined surfaces, this luminance has to be
projected along its angle d from the face normal
(see Fig. 5). The differential illuminance on a face
inclined from b on the z axis is thus given by (2).
Lb , the total illuminance on the surface inclined
from b on z axis, is given by the double integra-
tion, on a and g, of this expression. In order to
consider eventual environmental obstructions at a,
g angles, this integration is calculated numerically
by TOWNSCOPE and considers, for each a, g,
the punctual mask calculated through an ortho-
gonal projection (see above).
194 J. Teller and S. Azar
Fig. 5. LISBOA‘98 case study — Axonometry of the site.
Lz
dLb 5 ] (1 1 2 sin g ) (sin g cos b
3 directly stored as a slot of 3D faces. Specularity
1 cos g sin b n cos a ) cos g da dg (2)
where g 5angular altitude of the point, a 5
horizontal angle of the point.
The sky component indicator is given by the
ratio of this integration with available illuminance
on an unobstructed horizontal surface (L z* 2p*7 / 6).
For unobstructed vertical surfaces, this indicator
will be equal to some 40%, given that the zenithal
area of the sky, where luminance is maximal, is
located at some p / 2 angle from the face normal.
The sky component indicator can be multiplied by
available horizontal diffuse radiation to get the
effective diffuse radiation reaching a face.
8. REFLECTED RADIATION
Direct and diffuse radiation reflected from
surrounding faces to a given point are also
computed in orthogonal projection since it has to
consider view factors. The method is very similar
to the one used for isotropic diffuse radiation,
except that it’s not the faces masks but their
radiation that are considered by the projection.
The faces luminance is thus calculated by direct
and diffuse evaluations as described above. The
evaluation would only consider one inter-reflec-
tion, since the complexity of actual 3D environ-
ments and the claim to make all the computations
as transparent as possible for end-users.
Faces reflectivity has been considered as whol-
ly diffusing. It is thus modelled through an albedo
has not yet been included. It probably never will
be since this limitation is not a major problem for
most urban environments. Only exceptionally
glazed urban environments, international exposi-
tions for instance, could prove to be somehow
problematic.
Given these assumptions, the evaluation can
proceed through non recursive steps. In practice,
the evaluation starts with the determination of all
visible faces. Direct and diffuse radiation reaching
these faces is then computed, either under iso-
tropic or CIE sky conditions. The addition of both
these components multiplied by the face albedo is
stored in a specific slot of the face. These faces
 TOWNSCOPE II
are then transformed by an orthogonal projection
realized in the computation point, taking the
recepting surface normal as view direction. The
reflected radiation is then given by the addition of
all the faces visible area weighted by their radia-
tion. This computation can be repeated for points
located on a grid (Figs. 9 and 10).
Here again, an orthogonal projection of sur-
rounding faces, displayed with a color directly
proportional to their radiation, is a valuable
qualitative instrument to explicitate the mecha-
nisms underlying the reflection mechanisms.
9. THERMAL COMFORT IN URBAN OPEN
SPACES
Since direct, diffuse and reflected radiation
reaching a point can be computed for any face of
the 3D world, it is then possible to solve Fanger’s
(1970) thermal comfort equations for any point,
provided that one makes realistic assumptions
about air temperature, relative humidity, ventila-
tion rates, wind speed, clothing, materials charac-
teristics and metabolism. TOWNSCOPE has thus
been coupled with a thermal comfort algorithm,
developped by University of Sevilia (Guerra et
al., 1996), whose radiative input parameters are
directly estimated by the above procedures.
10. SKY OPENING INDICATOR
As a complement of thermal comfort analyses,
Fig. 6. LISBOA’98 case study — Daily direct radiation on the 15th of June (clear sky conditions).
195
a number of other urban open space quality
indicators are proposed by TOWNSCOPE. These
indicators were developed so as to avoid an
excessive specialisation of the software along
solar concerns. This is compliant with the previ-
ous version of TOWNSCOPE whose basic
rationale was to integrate solar issues within a
more comprehensive Urban Management System
(Dupagne, 1991). Here our focus lied explicitly
on urban morphology and its perception by pedes-
trians.
Sky opening is defined as the percentage of the
sky visible from one point. This indicator is
calculated in isoaire projection (see Fig. 3),
which, by contrast with other projection methods,
are equivalent transformations: it means they
respect the solid angles intercepted on the sphere
once projected onto the plane. In Fig. 12, one can
see a comparison between stereographical and
isoaire transformations. These two projections
were carried out with the same model (Fig. 11), at
the same view point and with the same view
direction. Although the lines are not represented
in the isoaire projection (for computational
reasons), one clearly sees that the sky area is
greater on the right figure than on the left one. It
is simply due to the fact that stereographical
transformation is not equivalent. Consequently,
the sky area in stereographical projection is not
proportional to the solid angle intercepted by the
visible sky.
Isoaire transformations are on the contrary
196 J. Teller and S. Azar

characterized by greater distortions of the ‘visual
aspect’ of the buildings. But the white area
located in the center of Fig. 12-left is directly
proportional to the solid angle intercepted by the
visible sky, regardless of the view direction. The
sky opening percentage can thus be directly
measured through the ratio of this white area onto
the surface of the circle. This indicator definition
is compliant with Gibson’s statement (1950) that
the visual world perception lies in the integration
of a myriad of retinian images, with various view
directions. It cannot be reduced to a static,
instantaneous image. Which is why developing a
transformation whose distortions are independent
from the view direction (which is not the case of
other projection methods).
In practice, sky opening percentage is used as
an indicator of the perceptive confinement felt by
an observer located in the open space. It is a
purely perceptive indicator which doesn’t take
into account the solar illumination of the space.
Yet, sky opening indicator already prooves to
highlight a number of features of an urban open
space, especially its level of enclosure and its
legibility. When they are computed along grids for
producing iso-sky-opening graphs (see Fig. 13),
the resulting maps are very similar to those
intuitively proposed in 1978 by the Greater Lon-
don Council (1978) for an enclosure characteriza-
tion. As such they can be used as an objective
performance indicator for the buildings enclosure
of an open space.
Sky opening could certainly be completed by
other indicators for the confinement characterisa-
tion. View lengths distribution can also be ad-
dressed by TOWNSCOPE for instance, but we
don’t intend to build an integrated ‘urban open
space quality indicator’, appliable to all cases

Fig. 7. LISBOA’98 case study — Solar paths visualisations of two coverings geometries.

Fig. 8. LISBOA’98 case study — Orthogonal visualisations of two coverings geometries.

 TOWNSCOPE II 197

Fig. 9. Ste Marguerite case study (BE) — Aerial view of the geometrical model.

Fig. 10. Ste Marguerite case study (BE) — Daily reflected radiation distribution on a facade located within a dense courtyard.
198
Fig. 11. Place St-Lambert case study (BE) — Axonometry of the site.
from nothern to southern latitudes. Our aim is to
diversify the approaches for an urban open space
analysis by proposing a number of alternate
instruments. The way these indicators will be
combined and levelled will always be specific to a
given place, time and intents.
11. CONCLUSIONS
The present paper discussed the application of
computer methods to solar access decision-mak-
ing in the built environment. Probably, ex-
perimentation results obtained in optimal field
conditions (low obstructions, few if any design
constraints and so on) are not directly transpos-
Fig. 12. Place Saint-Lambert case study (BE). Stereographical (with lines) vs. Isoaire projection (without lines) from the same
point.
J. Teller and S. Azar
able to dense urban areas, since the conflictual
nature of urban design and the geometrical com-
plexity of existing environments. Additionally,
procedural constraints, inherited from municipal
regulations, historical heritage conservation, and
so on, tend to further reduce the solution space of
solar-conscious designers. Obviously, in such
intricate situations, contextual simulations and
argumentation support tools would constitute a
clear benefit for future developments.
TOWNSCOPE II addressed this issue by a
combination of visual instruments with numerical
evaluators integrated within an Urban Information
System. Various solar evaluation methods were
implemented within a unified model, heavily
 TOWNSCOPE II 199

Fig. 13. Place Saint-Lambert case study (BE) — Iso-sky-opening map.

based on spherical geometry. In this way, private has a unitary radius (which is the hypothesis we
energy gains can be directly balanced with urban adopted in TOWNSCOPE), x9, y9, z9, the spheri-
open space thermal comfort. Furthermore, a num- cal coordinates of a point P(x, y, z) of the physical
ber of urban open space quality indicators, sky world, are given by:
opening for instance, were also developed so as to
address the ‘multiple concern’ nature of urban x9 5 x /D and y9 5 y /D and z9 5 z /D;
design. where D 5 sqrt(x 2 1 y 2 1 z 2 )
TOWNSCOPE II has already been applied to a On a unitary sphere, one of these three coordi-
number of case studies, including the LISBOA’98 nates is obviously reduntant since all points are
international exposition (PT), a central urban located at a distance equal to 1 from the origin (in
open space (place Saint-Lambert in Liege — BE) fact the sphere is a 2D space), but we maintain
and a very dense neighbourhood (Ste-Marguerite this reduntant information for practical reasons.
— BE). The practical illustrations included in this 1. Gnomonic projections transformation is given
document were produced during these experimen- by:
tal applications. Developing due measurements
and comparison protocols for such practical appli- x0 5 (x9 /z9)*D and y0 5 ( y9 /z9)*D;
cations are likely to become the next stage of our
where D5constant and z9 [ h0, 1j with an
future TOWNSCOPE researches (Figs. 6–13).
asymptote in z 5 0
2. Stereographic projections transformation is
Acknowledgements—The present work has been financed by given by:
the European Commission, Directorate General for Science,
Research and Technology under the contract JOR3-CT95- x0 5 x9 /(1 1 z9) and y0 5 y9 /(1 1 z9);
0024.
where z9 [ h 2 1, 1j with an asymptote in z 5 2 1
3. Orthogonal projections transformation is given
APPENDIX A by:
Here is the analytical expression of the 4 x0 5 x9 and y0 5 y9
spherical projections described in our paper. When
the sphere that serves as an intermediate between where z9 [ h0, 1j
the 3D world and the final plane representation 4. Isoaire projections transformation is given by:
200 J. Teller and S. Azar
x0 5 x9*[sqrt(1 2 z)] /D and
y0 5 y9*[sqrt(1 2 z)] /D;
where D 5 sqrt(x 9 2 1 y 9 2 ) and z9 [ h 2 1, 1j
Stereographic projections, in the domain h0, 1j
are bounded by a circle whose radius is equal to 1
(intersection between the sphere and the z50
plane). When computed in the domain h21, 1j,
isoaire projections are bounded by a circle whose
radius is equal to sqrt(2).
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