What exactly is solar benefit in Benefit Matrix

ladybug-tools
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1

Hi @chris or the other

I was looking around your old posts regarding the explanation of the Benefit Matrix. However, it is still unclear to me.
It says in the description that

  • bal_temp

The temperature in Celsius between which radiation switches from being a benefit to a harm. Typical residential buildings have balance temperatures as high as 18C and commercial buildings tend to have lower values around 12C. (Default 15C).

  • bal_offset

The temperature offset from the balance temperature in Celsius where radiation is neither harmful nor helpful. (Default: 2).

Am I understanding it correctly if I made a concept like this? Suppose the balance temp is 18 and the offset it 2

solar benefit
solar benefit637×815 31.7 KB

Also, do we simulate Benefit Matrix for the whole year? Or do we simulate it separately between winter and summer?

Thank you

Regards,
Ricardo

2

Hi @ricardo ,

Your diagrams are an accurate depiction of how a balance temperature of 18 C with an offset of 2C is interpreted.

That is what I usually do. You can always filter the Sky Matrix for specific hoys_ that you want to simulate. But the typical use case for the benefit sky matrix is that you run just one radiation simulation to understand the net effect of help vs. harm on your building thermal loads for the whole year.