
Raphaël CompagnonHaute école d'ingénierie et d'architecture de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland · Architecture
Raphaël Compagnon
Dr ès Sciences Techniques
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Publications (51)
This paper presents a comparison among eight tools commonly used to evaluate the solar irradiation in urban environments. The focus is on the vertical surfaces (i.e., façades). The analysed tools have a large range of applications, from detailed microclimate studies to large-scale irradiation modelling. The benchmark tests consist of simulations us...
A new online tool to assess solar and daylight access over the surfaces enclosing an urban canyon (i.e. building façades and street) is presented. From a limited series of parameters, users can easily describe the orientation and geometry of an urban canyon and precisely define an area of interest for which the calculations have to be performed. By...
Solar availability on urban façades varies significantly, affected by obstructions by nearby buildings as well as orientation. A convenient way to evaluate their solar energy potential is deemed to facilitate the task of architects in increasing the use of photovoltaic systems and, thus solar energy generation in the urban environment. This study e...
Solar irradiance and illuminance are important renewable resources
that can significantly increase buildings’ energy efficiency,
associated to solar passive and active techniques and
use of daylighting. In addition, it is widely acknowledged
that the presence of natural light and some sunlight indoors
is essential for inhabitants’ well-being. This...
Sky view factor (SVF) measures the openness of a point to the sky vault and as such, has been widely used in urban climatology and environmental design studies associated to various phenomena, including Urban Heat Island intensity and daylight availability. This study examines to what extent SVF can be also employed for predicting solar availabilit...
Availability of solar radiation in the urban environment is determined to a great extent by urban geometry, namely how densely built-up an area is and how the given built volume is distributed spatially within the site. This paper explores relationships between urban geometry and solar availability on building façades and at the pedestrian level, w...
The need for densification in cities creates a challenge for designers and policy makers in order to provide sufficient access to daylight and sunlight to buildings and to the open public spaces in-between. Guidance and policies should provide site specific recommendations and targets to designers and developers to allow for an optimal dimensioning...
So called “multishading masks” are obtained by combining together several shading masks computed for a series of sample points uniformly distributed over the open space under study. By superimposing these “multishading masks” with common sun-path diagrams, it is possible to assess which area fraction of an open space is exposed to sunlight during t...
Densification is generally assumed to exert negative impacts on urban daylight and solar potential, however, this paper demonstrates the possibilities to increase usable floor area and plot ratio without undermining the opportunities of daylight and solar applications. The paper investigates the diverse influences of built density on daylight acces...
ABSTRACT: La Ville Radieuse, ‘The Contemporary City for Three Million Inhabitants’ proposed by Le Corbusier for central Paris is a myth in the history of contemporary town planning. The proposal, according to Le Corbusier, could increase the urban capacity and at the same time improve the urban environment and the efficiency of the city. The though...
Rapid urbanization in recent years has exerted tremendous pressure on urban development. In the face of the largely unexamined fashion for densification, it is vital that the environmental impact of compaction be researched. This study comprises solar simulation of eighteen generic models; each represents a particular combination of built form and...
With the aim of informing policy decisions regarding investments in technologies to utilise potential for energy savings due to daylighting and solar radiation availability, the Solurban Project was to deploy existing modelling techniques to the associated analysis of three Swiss cities. This paper describes the use of the RADIANCE based tool PPF t...
The main airflow and contaminant paths or the spatial distribution of the age of air (or contaminant) in a room are of great interest in estimating venrilation efficiency. A simple meusurement method is presented which consists of injecting one or more tracer gases at locations of interest and analysing the concentration at several other locations,...
This paper presents a method to quantify the potential of facades and roofs located in urban areas for active and passive solar heating, photovoltaic electricity production and daylighting. Solar irradiation and illuminance values obtained through numerical simulations form the core part of the method. Results obtained from a case study comparing d...
Besides a more efficient energy use, large scale application of solar energy technologies in the urban context will be necessary in the upcoming decades to achieve a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the biosphere. Two different urban sites, representative of two of the largest Swiss cities (Basel and Geneva), were examined under thi...
This paper presents part of the findings of a research project conducted at the Martin Centre University of Cambridge, which looked into how daylighting quality affects the users of a library interior. It discusses the importance of luminance in the field of view for the perception of quality and introduces a new index named Luminance Differences (...
The computer lighting simulation tool RADIANCE has been used to simulate the laser-cut panel (LCP), a novel daylighting technology used to redirect sunlight and skylight for more effective natural illumination in buildings and improved solar thermal control. The algorithm used to model the LCP material in RADIANCE is described, and simulations of t...
Bidirectional transmission distribution junctions (BTDF) of fenestration materials are useful data for many daylighting applications (data for daylighting calculation programs, daylighting design, etc.). Their measurement relies on appropriate experimental photometric equipment, which must be able to work very systematically, Advanced digital imagi...
Two methods of introducing the radiance lighting and daylighting simulation software to architecture students in a relatively short time are presented. The production of visual teaching materialusing the same software is also discussed.
Keywords: simulation ; daylighting ; computer generated picture ; prismatic panel ; nonimaging optics ; simulation ; eclairage naturel ; image de synthese ; element prismatique ; optique anidolique These Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL, n° 1193 (1993)Laboratoire d'energie solaire et physique du bâtiment Reference doi:10.5075/epfl-thes...
Ce projet a pour but d'élaborer des outils informatiques permettant de concevoir, d'étudier et d'évaluer des systèmes de gestion de lumière naturelle. Il s'inscrit dans le cadre du programme de recherche interdisciplinaire LUMEN, visant à une utilisaiton optimale de la lumière naturelle dans les bâtiments afin de réduire la consommation d'énergie é...
Nonimaging optics principles have been applied to the design of new reflectors forming daylighting systems. Two examples for the side lighting of a deep room are presented. The performance (illuminance levels, visual comfort probability) recorded by means of computer simulation is encouraging.
The main airjlow and contaminant paths or the spatial distribution of the age of air (or contaminant) in a room are of great interest in estimating ventilation efficiency. A simple measurement method is presented which consists of injecting one or more tracer gases at locations of interest and analysing the concentration at several other locations,...
Etude expérimentale et par simulations d'un cuiseur solaire de type "boîte" développé par le Centre Ecologique Albert Schweitzer (CEAS) de Neuchâtel et l'Atelier d'Energie Solaire et de Technologie Appropriée (ATESTA) de Ouagadougou.
The algorithms for interpreting multizone air flow measurements using tracer gases presented in the literature are based on implicit rather than clearly defined hypotheses, an important example being that the temperature of the air is assumed to be homogeneous and constant. Moreover, an error analysis is often omitted and the techniques hitherto pr...
In order to enhance quality of life in cities, comfort should be considered as an important issue when designing open spaces. Until now, only few methods addressing this issue about how people "feel" open spaces are available to architects and urban-planners, however. Thus, this study aims at developing and testing a "quick assessment" tool regardi...
Method • This project provides, in compliance with current EU objectives which are to improve quality of life and revitalize city centres, an integrated study of the urban open spaces, as well as their thermal, visual and acoustic comfort conditions. Field surveys were carried out in 10 different cities across Europe during the four seasons of year...
Besides providing a more efficient energy use, a large scale application of solar energy technologies in the urban context will be required in the upcoming decades to achieve a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the biosphere. Three different urban sites, representative of three of the largest Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva and Lausanne)...
Besides providing a more efficient energy use, a large scale application of solar energy technologies in the urban context will be required in the upcoming decades to achieve a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the biosphere. Three different urban sites, representative of three of the largest Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva and Lausanne)...
Besides providing a more efficient energy use, a large scale application of solar energy technologies in the urban context will be required in the upcoming decades to achieve a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the biosphere. Three different urban sites, representative of three of the largest Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva and Lausanne)...
Diverses méthodes de mesurage, utilisant des gaz traceurs, peuvent être utilisées pour déterminer l'importance des flux d'air, les caractéristiques d'un système de ventilation ou la répartition des polluants dans un ou plusieurs locaux. La décision de faire des mesures et le choix de la méthode de mesurage dépendent en premier lieu du problème à ré...
L'aération des bâtiments consomme une qualité d'énergie importante et le laboratoire s'est donc intéressé de près au problème de la ventilation. Il a développé un appareil de mesure de renouvellement d'air par gaz traceur à concentration constante et une soufflante pour la mesure de la perméabilité des bâtiments.