The effect of surrounding topography on calculated solar gains in buildings using dynamic building energy modeling (BEM)

Hausmeister, Alen (author), Ogrin, Matej (author), Gregorčič, Tim (author), Malovrh Rebec, Katja (author)

This paper presents a methodology for integrating terrain shadows of micro-locations into building energy modeling (BEM) for topographically diverse regions. Dynamic energy simulations rely on high-resolution weather data sourced from reference locations that cover a climate zone. As soon as the micro-location of the simulated building is away from the weather reference site, topographic shading can trigger deviations. This study developed a three-dimensional reproduction of the micro-location’s surrounding terrain as a simplified ring model based on available horizon height captured from PVGIS. In a radius of 20 km, 4 Slovenian cities from the same climatic zone have been analyzed and compared with a baseline calculation. When comparing solar gains (SG) of chosen micro-locations, a tendency is noticeable—the lower the Sky-view Factor (SVF), the higher the SG deficit. Additional calculations have been conducted for different SVF/aspect ratios and used in a geographical survey. Results show that at least half of the Slovenian land surface which is inhabited by 21% of the population, has characteristics where topography influences calculated Solar Gains (SG). In those areas, the potential SG deficit is distributed from barely perceptible to more than 25% in certain areas. This approach enhances the precision of BEM in topographically varied landscapes and can inform better design and planning decisions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: hourly dynamic method, solar gains, sky-view factor, elevated horizon, BIM
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication version: Author Accepted Manuscript
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 177-193
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180914
• UDC: 551.52:69(497.4)
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-14019-7_13
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270934275
• Publication date in RUL: 19.03.2026

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: Proceedings of CESBP 2025 - 6th Central European Symposium on Building Physics
• Editors: Balázs Nagy, Zsuzsa Szalay
• Place of publishing: Cham
• Publisher: Springer
• ISBN: 978-3-032-14019-7
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270251779
• Collection title: Lecture notes in civil engineering
• Collection numbering: ǂvol. ǂ796
• Collection ISSN: 2366-2565

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: metoda dinamičnega izračuna na uro, sončni dobitki, faktor pogleda na nebo, dvignjeno obzorje, BIM

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0273-2019
• Name: Gradbeni objekti in materiali