Transform AEC Projects with GIS and BIM

Exercise
Perform spatial analysis on BIM data

Section 4 Exercise 2
October 3, 2022
 Transform AEC Projects with GIS and BIM

Perform spatial analysis on BIM data

Time to complete
30 minutes

Technical note

1. You will make full use of web mapping services throughout this course. You will need a
robust web connection to complete this exercise and the exercise that follows.
2. Use the latest version of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft
Edge. Other web browsers may not display your maps and apps correctly.

Note: For information on supported web browsers for ArcGIS Online, see ArcGIS Online
Help: Supported browsers (https://links.esri.com/SupportedBrowsers).
For information on requirements for using Scene Viewer on either mobile devices or
desktop web browsers, see ArcGIS Online Help: Scene Viewer requirements (https:/
/links.esri.com/SceneViewerRequirements).
Software requirements
An updated web browser

Introduction
Spatial analysis allows you to solve complex location-oriented problems, explore and
understand your data from a geographic perspective, determine relationships, detect and
quantify patterns, assess trends, and make predictions and decisions. Spatial analysis goes
beyond mapping and allows you to study the characteristics of places and the relationships
among them. Spatial analysis lends new perspectives to your decision-making.

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Using spatial analysis, you can combine information from many sources and derive new
information and insights by applying a set of spatial operators. ArcGIS Online supports
analysis and decision-making using spatial information and GIS technology throughout the
AEC project life cycle, allowing you to make smarter, more informed decisions. Spatial analysis
can reveal pivotal insights about detailed infrastructure assets and help you solve critical
problems at any point during a project, thereby reducing costs and delays. Spatial analysis in
ArcGIS Online is not only available in 2D maps but also extends to 3D and even through time.
A typical spatial analysis workflow involves the following steps:

• Frame the question that you want to answer.

• Find and prepare the data and make it ready for analysis.
• Explore the data to better understand it.
• Perform the spatial analysis, using the right tool or set of tools to answer the question.
• Share your results to communicate your findings.

When performing spatial analysis using GIS and BIM data, there are several tools unique to
the 3D environment with which you should become familiar. Some of these tools you have
previously used in this course, such as the Slice tool or the Elevation Profile tool. In this
exercise, you will use a few more tools to answer questions about the new building projects
on or near the Esri campus in Redlands, California.

Exercise scenario
Imagine that you are an analyst who must evaluate the new building projects on the Esri
Redlands campus. The new building, Building E, which is nearing completion, and a newly
proposed building near the campus have come under local scrutiny. Being good stewards of
the natural and built environment, stakeholders have asked your firm to assess the impact of
the new buildings on the natural environment and ensure that they fit within the campus
environmental design. You will use some of the tools available in Scene Viewer to perform this
analysis.

Step 1: Measure a distance and elevation in Scene Viewer

To address the stakeholders' request, you will first answer the following questions:

• What is the distance between the two new buildings?

• What is the elevation difference between these buildings?

You have used several analysis tools already in previous exercises. Now you will use an
additional analysis tool to answer these questions. This simple measurement tool introduces

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the tools available to measure distances between two points and calculate areas in your
scene.

a In a web browser, return to your Redlands Scene (<MOOC student account>) web scene.

Note: Your initial view may differ slightly from the preceding graphic, depending on the
location and viewing angle when you saved your web scene.
Hint: If you closed your web browser, perform the following steps:

1. Open a web browser in private or incognito mode and go to www.arcgis.com.

2. Sign in to ArcGIS Online using your MOOC student account credentials.
3. Click Content.
4. From the My Content tab, for the Redlands Scene (<MOOC student account>), click
the More Options button and choose Open In Scene Viewer.

b Use your navigation skills to orient your web scene so you can view both the 3D mesh of
Building E and the building scene layer of the new Redlands building.
Hint: A view from the south looking north similar to the graphic above is recommended.
First, you will use an analysis tool in Scene Viewer to measure the distance between the two
new buildings on the campus. This simple measurement tool introduces the tools available to
measure distances between two points and calculate areas in your scene.

c On the right side of your web scene, click the Analyze button .

d In the Analyze window, click the Measure Distance button .

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Note: The Elevation Profile result from the previous exercise may still be visible when you
open the Analyze window.
When you click the Measure distance tool or Measure area tool in Scene Viewer, horizontal
laser lines are projected on the terrain and objects in the scene, showing the vertical height of
the pointer in the scene as you measure. It is helpful to see the heights of objects relative to
other objects and the terrain. For example, you can hover over a smaller building and see that
height highlighted relative to another part of the terrain.
When the distance between the points is greater than 100 kilometers, a circular laser line
appears, indicating that Scene Viewer has switched to geodesic mode. In geodesic mode,
Scene Viewer calculates only the horizontal and vertical distances, taking into consideration
the curvature of the earth (that is, ellipsoid-based geodesic distance). The Direct distance
option is unavailable when these types of distances are being measured.
Note: In local scenes, it is important to know that measurements are displayed as Euclidean
values and may not be accurate, depending on the scene's projected coordinate system. Web
Mercator scenes display the accurate geodesic values.

e Move your cursor up and down the west face of Building E to observe the laser lines in
your scene, as indicated in the following graphic.

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The laser lines appear on both the terrain and any vertical objects that intersect the vertical, or
elevation, plane relative to your cursor location. This functionality makes it easy to see where
heights are in relation to one another, as shown in the following graphic.

f Click a point near the west side of the foundation of Building E to start your measure line,
as indicated in the following graphic.

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g Move your cursor to the model of the new Redlands building to the southwest of the 3D
mesh and double-click to finish the line.

Note: Your direct, horizontal, and vertical measurements may vary slightly, depending on your
start and end points.
The Measure window records the direct, horizontal, and vertical distance between your two
points. The direct measure is represented by the orange and white checkered line and is the
straight line distance from one point to the other. The horizontal measure is the level elevation
measure between the two points. The default unit of Imperial can make the numerical
difference between the two seem negligible. You can change the unit of measure to see the
offset better see this difference. Finally, the vertical measure, or elevation, shows the
difference in height between these two points. In the example of the measurement that you
just performed, you are provided with not only a difference in the height but also an easy

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visual comparison of the two building heights against one another.

Hint: If you need to start your measure over, click New Measurement.

h On your own, use your navigation skills to explore different view angles of your
measurement.
The following graphics show different view angles of the measurement.

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You can use these tools not only for long distances but also to evaluate your construction site.
The following example shows a measure performed on the southern loading ramp on the
west side of Building E. While the initial elevation drop and opening seem quite large, a
measurement of the site shows different results. This type of quick analysis can not only help
with potential safety evaluations but also to verify construction against plans or, if necessary,
meeting specific code requirements.

1. Based on this measurement, what is the slope of this ramp into the basement level
of Building E?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

i On your own, explore and examine other areas of the Building E construction site or the
building scene layer model of the off-campus building to discover what other types of
evaluations that you can make using the Measure tools.

j Save your web scene.

Now that you have explored the Measure tools available in a 3D scene view, you will use
some other analysis tools. Instead of using tools in this web scene, however, you will use
another tool in a web app.

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Step 2: Configure layers in a web app

To help communicate more of your findings to your stakeholders, you will use a web
application (or web app) that one of your colleagues created. In this step, you will configure
the layers in the web app in preparation for further analysis.

a Click Redlands - Building Project - 3D WebApp to open this web app in your web
browser.

b On the left side of the web app 3D scene view, click the Open Slides button and
select Building E (Context).

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The view in the web app will navigate to a new field of view and update the visible layers.

c Click the Open Slides button .

You can configure the display of the content in the web app as necessary to improve
performance and clarity for your analysis.

d On the right side of the web app, click the Open Layer List button .

The layer list shows a number of different integrated layers in this web app. There is a building

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scene layer (Building E), GIS layers (Utilities and Planning layer groups), and imagery
(Nearmap and Site Scan layer groups). Currently all layer groups are visible, but there are
individual layers within each of these groups that are turned off and on.
Your stakeholders would like to know what is visible from the third story of Building E as well
as from general points on campus. You will now configure your view in preparation for
performing a line of sight analysis.

e In the Layer List panel, click the arrow next to Utilities to expand its contents.

The visibility is turned off for all layers in this layer group. While it is not necessary to turn the
visibility of the entire layer list off, it can help when looking at the larger list to know when lists
are on and off.

f For Utilities, click the Hide Layer button to turn the entire layer list off.

g When you turn the layer list off, notice that the icon changes to reflect that the visibility of
the layer is off, as indicated in the following graphic.

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h Click the down arrow to collapse the Utilities layer list.

i On your own, for the Planning layer list, modify the layers to show or hide them as
specified below:

• Show

• OpenStreetMap 3D Trees (Realistic)

• Building Footprints
• Trees
• Hide

• 3D Buildings
• Parcels
• Floodplain

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j Ensure that the visibility is on for the entire Planning layer list.

k Hide both the Nearmap and the Site Scan layer list.

Finally, you will configure the building scene layer.

l In the Layer List panel, expand Building E, and then under Building E, expand Full Model.

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If you recall, when building scene layers are shared to ArcGIS Online, both the ExteriorShell
and the Full Model are included. While you are using a web app in this step, the layers shown
here were shared from ArcGIS Pro in the same manner that you used in the previous exercise.
Web apps can be configured for various visualization and analysis needs. By default, the
ExteriorShell of a model is the view normally rendered. However, this web app is configured
to show the Full Model as the default view, with all the construction disciplines available in the
model visible as well. You can explore each of these individual disciplines on your own, but for
the line of sight analysis, they are unnecessary. For this analysis, the ExteriorShell will be all
that you need.

m For ExteriorShell, click the Show Layer button to turn the visibility on for this layer.

n For Full Model, click the Hide Layer button to turn this group layer off.

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Because you are turning off the Full Model group layer, there is no need to turn off the
visibility of the individual layers. The ExteriorShell of this building scene layer is fairly extensive
and contains a lot of information and detail. For the additional analysis that you plan to
perform, this portion of the model will serve your purpose with the added benefit of making
navigation in your web scene faster.

o On the right side of the web app, click the Open Layer List button .
Now that you have configured the layers in this web app, you can perform additional analysis.

Step 3: Perform a line of sight analysis

During the design phase of a project, engineers, architects, and other stakeholders may be
interested in what can be seen from the new building and from where within the surroundings
the new building can be seen. Using 3D visibility analysis, you can analyze and visualize the
line of sight from one location to one or more target (end) points. In this step, you will use the
Line of Sight tool in ArcGIS Online to perform 3D visibility analysis to provide your project
stakeholders with this information to ensure that the new building fits within the campus
environmental design.

a In the web app, orient your view to look south along New York Street on the Esri Redlands
campus, as shown in the following graphic.

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b If necessary, click the Open Overview Map button to help set your location, as shown
in the following graphic.

c On the right side of the web app, click the Open Line Of Sight Tool button and click

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New Analysis.
The Line of Sight tool uses an observer point and one or more target points to calculate
visibility against the currently displayed content in the view, including ground, integrated
meshes, and 3D objects, such as buildings or trees. To begin the analysis, you will first identify
an observer point.

d In the web app, move your cursor to the intersection of New York St. and W. Park Ave.
and click to place an observer point to begin your analysis, as indicated in the following
graphic.

From the observer point, you can move your cursor to various target points within the scene
to determine visibility. Beginning with a clear line of sight is a good place to start to validate
your observer point.

e Move your cursor south along New York St. until it intersects the 3D building footprint at
the end of the road but do not click to end the line.

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As you move the endpoint of your line in the scene, you will observe that the laser line is
visible on all 3D surfaces throughout the scene in a manner similar to the Measure tool. The
line of sight analysis appears as lines and spheres: green lines are the visible part that the
observer can see, and red lines are the occluded part. Also, green spheres indicate visible
targets in which the full line is green; red spheres indicate the occluded targets. When the line
of sight cannot be calculated, it is displayed with a gray color, which happens when either the
target or the observer are not in the view or when neither of them are in the view.

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f Move your cursor so that your line endpoint intersects Building E.

g Continue to adjust your endpoint so that the entire line segment is green and double-
click to end the line.

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Note: After you double-click to end the line segment, the endpoint becomes the target point
of your visibility line.

Hint: It may take a few tries to find a visible line of sight from your observer point to Building
E. If necessary, you can click New Analysis and place a new observer point at the intersection
to make it easier.

h Navigate in the web app to make additional observations about your line of sight.

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Note: Your line segment or view may appear slightly different than these two examples based
on your observer point and target point.

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You are not restricted to a single target (or visibility line) in your line of sight analysis. You will
add another target for additional line of sight context.

i In the Line Of Sight tool, click Continue Analysis, and then move your cursor in the web
app.
A new line emanating from the same observer point will be visible.

j On your own, select another endpoint and double-click to close the line.

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k After you have selected a second endpoint, click New Analysis, and then click Done.

l Click the Open Line Of Sight Tool button .

Now that you have experience with the Line of Sight tools, you can explore other observer
points around the campus. If desired, you can return to your web scene with the 3D mesh and
the building scene layer and add a line of sight layer to experiment with data that you shared
to your web scene. For more information on how to add a line of sight layer to a web scene,
see ArcGIS Online Help: Add a line of sight layer - Create a line of sight layer.
Another analysis tool available as part of ArcGIS Online and in web scenes is the Daylight
tool. This tool allows you to change how sunlight and shadows affect your scene, and 3D
objects in your scene, during different times of the day and year.
The final part of spatial analysis that you need to perform will be to evaluate the daylight
exposure in the Building E atrium.

Step 4: Evaluate sunlight and shadows

The design of Building E includes a uniquely oriented landscaped central atrium with outdoor
seating and a pond. This design is not merely an aesthetic choice made by the architect. The
original design had the atrium in a more traditional alignment parallel to the exterior building
walls. However, when examining this initial design and modeling the sunlight and exposure,
the design team recommended a change that is visible in the final as-built configuration in the
building scene layer visible in the web app.

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To verify that the final as-built design of the atrium will allow for adequate sunlight both for
employees in the new building and to support the landscape design, you will perform a
shadow analysis.
In this step, you will examine the sunlight exposure in the atrium during different times of year.

a In the Redlands - Building Project - 3D WebApp, navigate and orient your view to look at
Building E from the southeast, looking northwest, as shown in the following graphic.

b Configure the building scene layer to show the Full Model with only the Architectural
layers showing and not the ExteriorShell.

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Hint: Click the Open Layer List button and set the visibility for the ExteriorShell and Full
Model.
The Full Model of Building E will be visible in the web app. There are some details inside the
atrium with the Full Model that you want to expose for your analysis.

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c Click the Open Daylight Tool button .

The Daylight tool allows you to set a date and time for the sun position as part of the analysis,
which can be useful to understand how sunlight and shadows affect your scene during
different times of the day and year.

d For the date, click the down arrow and use the calendar to set the date to October 5,
2022.

Note: You can set this parameter for any date that you desire; however, for purposes of this
exercise, the date used will be 10/05/2022.

e Check the box for Shadows to turn shadows on in the web app.
After you turn the shadows on, the visualization will represent the shadows for the set date
and time of year.

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f In the Daylight window, click the Sunlight slider and move it to the left and right through
the timeline to view the sunlight and shadows simulated at different times on this date in
your scene.

You can also create an animation of the sunlight and shadows throughout the day.

g Set the time to approximately 6:30 a.m.

h In the Daylight window, click the Play button to animate the sunlight and shadows
throughout the day.

i Click the Pause button to stop the animation sometime near 4:00 p.m.

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Note: You can also use animation to progress through the calendar date, and not just the time
of day, to observe the sunlight differences throughout the year.

j In the web app, navigate to observe inside the atrium.

Depending on your viewing angle, you can easily see the shadows cast inside the atrium.

k Move the Sunlight slider back and forth to watch the sunlight and shadows progress
throughout the day.

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Now you will examine the shadow and sunlight exposure in the atrium throughout the year. As
you examine each day, move the Sunlight slider back and forth through the daylight hours to
see how the atrium is affected by the changing conditions.

l For the date, click the down arrow and use the calendar to set the date to different dates
throughout the year and observe the shadows.
The following graphic shows examples of different dates used.

Note: The shadows in your view may vary slightly, depending on the dates that you select in
your calendar.

m For each day that you set, slide the Sunlight slider throughout the day to observe the
shadows.
2. What observations can you make about the shadows in the as-built atrium
configuration?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

3. Based on the initial assessment of your sunlight and shadow analysis, does it appear
that the as-built adequately addresses the concerns and design constraints for
employees and the atrium's landscape design?

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__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

n Keep the Redlands - Building Project - 3D Web App web browser tab open.
As previously mentioned, the original design of Building E did not include an offset of the
atrium. Project changes can alter schedules, increase costs, and negatively impact stakeholder
relations. To evaluate the implications of a design change, such as the offset of the Building E
atrium, you will next compare the original design against the as-built. You will be able to see
how spatial analysis supported that change and helped provide information for project
stakeholders to make important decisions earlier in the project life cycle.
To better assess the implications of this design change, in the next step, you will compare the
as-built configuration to the original design.

Step 5: Compare the original design against the as-built

Another web app containing a web scene is available that contains a building scene layer of
the original design. It is not as detailed as the as-built model that you used in the previous
step, but it does show the atrium in its original configuration. In this step, you will use this web
scene to perform a comparative analysis between the original design and as-built and the
sunlight exposures and resulting shadows in the atrium throughout the year.

a Click Building E - Esri Campus to open this web app in your web browser.

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b At the bottom of the web scene, click the Esri Campus - Redlands slide.

This slide makes all layers visible. While the campus and other building may be important for
aspects of the analysis, the Parking area is not relevant to the analysis.

c In the Layers window, uncheck the box for the Parking layer.

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Note: If desired, you can turn the Esri Campus and Redlands Buildings layers off, but they
may provide additional context for your overall evaluation.

d Close the Layers window.

e Navigate to a viewing point to see all of Building E.

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f Observe Building E in the web scene and specifically pay attention to the orientation of
the atrium in relation to the larger building footprint.

g On the right side of the web scene, click the Daylight/Weather button .
This tool has the same interface that you used in the previous step, but it also contains a
Weather tab. To enhance the visualizations in your scenes, you can add weather effects, such
as snow, rain, or fog, using the Weather settings. You can explore the Weather tool at the end
of this exercise if desired.

h For the date, click the down arrow and use the calendar to set the date to October 5,
2022.

i Check the box for Shadows, if necessary.

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j Use your navigation skills to set a position to observe the sun angle and exposure in the
atrium's original design configuration.

Note: You can adjust and move (pan and zoom) in the web scene to find the best position to
observe the shadows in the atrium.

k Move the Sunlight slider back and forth to watch the sunlight and shadows progress
throughout the day.
Just as you did with the as-built model, now you will examine the shadow and sunlight
exposure in the atrium throughout the year. As you examine each day, move the Sunlight
slider back and forth through the daylight hours to see how the atrium is affected by the
changing conditions.

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l For the date, click the down arrow and use the calendar to set the date to different dates
throughout the year and observe the shadows.
The following graphic shows examples of different dates used.

Note: The shadows in your view may vary slightly, depending on the dates that you select in
your calendar.

m If necessary, use your navigation skills to observe the shadows in the atrium.

n For each day that you set, slide the Sunlight slider throughout the day to observe the
shadows.
4. What observations can you make about the shadows in the original atrium
configuration?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. How do these shadows compare to the as-built model?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

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6. What would you consider to be the most important factor when performing a
sunlight and shadow analysis for the redesign of the atrium orientation in Building
E? Why?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

In this exercise, you have used some of the spatial analysis tools in a web scene and a web
app to help understand the geographical context of your BIM and GIS data. By using the
Measure tools, the Line of Sight tools, and the Daylight tools available, you can provide not
only an analysis based on your own visualization but also with metrics and data. Because
these are all available from data that you either shared to ArcGIS Online, or from data that is
already available, you can provide these results to stakeholders, engineers, architects, or other
staff in need of this type of analysis.

o Share your thoughts in the Forum about some of the analytical functions available and
how they can benefit your AEC projects.

p Close all your web browsers.

Stretch goal (Optional)

Throughout this course, you will have the opportunity to complete stretch goals. These goals
allow you to continue or enhance the work that you completed during the exercise.
Stretch goals are community-supported (meaning that your fellow MOOC participants can
assist you with the steps to complete the stretch goal using the Lesson Forum), and they are a
great opportunity to work together to learn.

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This web scene illustrates a fictitious urban development project in the city of Portland,
Oregon, and provides a means to visualize new developments within the context of the
existing built environment. There are various scenarios that are graphically outlined as slides
for planning and review. Additionally, several of these slides include Daylight enabled for
quick analysis.

1. Click ArcGIS - Visualize New Developments to open this web scene in your web browser.

Note: The complete URL for this layer is https://www.arcgis.com/home/webscene

/viewer.html?webscene=19dcff93eeb64f208d09d328656dd492#.
2. Examine the two submitted planned scenarios (Scenario A slide and Scenario B slide).
3. Examine the Proposed Demolition slide.
4. Examine the four different slides showing the daylight and shadows.
5. Modify the time of day and the date of the year in your analysis, and then answer the
following questions.

• Does the information and models provided give you enough geographical context to
evaluate the scenarios?
• If there are specified use parameters for this development area regarding natural
light, shadows, and exposure, which of the scenarios would you choose? Why?
• What other observations about the design and planned area can you make?

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Use the Lesson Forum to post your questions, observations, and screenshot examples that
best represent your answers. Be sure to include the #stretch hashtag in the posting title.

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Answers to Exercise Questions

1. Based on this measurement, what is the slope of this ramp into the basement level of
Building E?
The formula to compute slope is Slope = Rise/Run. Using these numbers, the slope is
a gentle 4.5 percent.

2. What observations can you make about the shadows in the as-built atrium configuration?
Answers and analysis will vary but can include the following observations:

• While the sunlight and shadows vary throughout the year, there does not appear to
be a time of year where sunlight is blocked in all portions of the atrium.
• The offset alignment evens out exposure throughout the year.

3. Based on the initial assessment of your sunlight and shadow analysis, does it appear that
the as-built adequately addresses the concerns and design constraints for employees and
the atrium's landscape design?
Answers and conclusions may vary but can include the following:

• Because of the variability of sunlight throughout the day, and even throughout the
year, the landscape design should be sustainable and stable.
• Most areas and floors near the atrium will receive adequate amounts of natural light
during the day to satisfy workplace requirements.
• Eating and break facilities (balconies) are oriented and placed to take advantage of
the atrium orientation and provide enough variability for employee well-being.

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4. What observations can you make about the shadows in the original atrium configuration?
Answers and analysis will vary but can include the following observations:

• While the sunlight and shadows vary throughout the year, there appears to be a time
of year—in the winter months, especially—when sunlight is blocked in all portions of
the atrium.
• The alignment of the atrium along the west-east line coupled with the height of the
building restricts sunlight to various parts of the atrium not only through the day but
also dramatically during certain times of the year.

5. How do these shadows compare to the as-built model?

Answers and analysis will vary but can include the following observations:

• Because of the angular offset in the as-built, there appears to be more exposure
throughout the year.
• The angle of sunlight and shadows appear to vary more throughout the year and the
day because of the offset.
• From a design aesthetic, the offset may provide for a more inviting workspace on
the inside with different shadows and play of light.

6. What would you consider to be the most important factor when performing a sunlight and
shadow analysis for the redesign of the atrium orientation in Building E? Why?
Answers and analysis will vary but can include the following observations:

• If there were certain design criteria for natural light exposure in the building, this
analysis is useful.
• If the landscape architecture and plants in the atrium required certain amounts of
sunlight, then this analysis would help with that redesign.

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