Shade & Reflectivity

With the increasing use of reflective glass in the curtain walls of tall buildings, concerns have been raised about overshadowing and reflectivity. Various planning authorities have enacted regulations to control the impact of shading at ground level and limit the use of reflective facades.

Overshadowing

Vipac has developed the highly specialised computer software SHADE to quantify the environmental impact and determine the impact of reflections of the proposed building onto surrounding carriageways and pedestrian pathways. SHADE uses Vipac's extensive data base of buildings and topography of Australia's main cities along with calculations of sun positions to determine a minute by minute variation of the shadow location at any time of the year.

Building Reflectivity
Reflectivity assessments determine the adverse reflective glare from glass surfaces which can impact on motorists, pedestrians and neighbouring buildings. Reflectivity studies are carried out as part of a development approval but are equally important in ensuring maintenance of nearby public spaces as well as assessing the appearance of the development for different glazing designs.

Vipac has been involved in numerous shading and reflectivity assessments, helping architects in planning public amenity spaces, supporting developers during the statutory planning processes as well as determining for councils the impact of proposed towers in regards to the existing city shadows.