Trying to come up with a simple way to model trees that are not fully opaque - 100% leafed, for the purposes of radiation / daylight and comfort simulation, when the tree is not fully opaque say in fall/spring and letting in a lot more light.
For CFD simulation I can model a full sphere, and apply a coefficient to it to tell the CFD it is not “solid”
In Envi Met, they have dynamic trees that leaf.
I know in HB/EnergyPlus it is possible to also do trees on a schedule. I am looking for something dumber and quicker than that though.
The way I see it there are a couple of solutions, and questions, and I would love some feedback on these.
- You model a sphere at different diameters, to crudely account for less leafing. This seems like it would lead to inaccurate results because less area can be shaded if it is hardly leafed, when in reality, the tree branches / tree is still same diameter.
- You model a flat perforated plane. This might be the easiest/simple thing to do, but I question whether for tall trees, if you will miss some shading due to the height of the canopy
- You can try modelling a sphere, and perforating it based on a percentage to account for some leaves.
I welcome feedback and discussion, or a better solution if someone has it.
