Daylighting Help Guides

Generating Results in LightStanza

The Activity Bar (on the right side of your design screen) is where new activities are started, previous activities are referenced, model edits are listed, and comparison reports are kicked off..

1. 1. Renderings/Animations – These come in the form of individual point-in-time renderings and animations. To play a rendering animation, click the New Simulation button in the top of the activity menu.
      
      1. Camera Tools – You can customize the way you view your renderings in the 3D viewer with Camera Tools. (Hover over the activity you want to see in the activity menu then click the building icon )
         
         1. Exposure – You can manually adjust the exposure of your renderings in order to increase or decrease the amount of light per unit area. LightStanza uses Reinhard tone mapping for adjusting exposure.
         2. Contrast – Adjusting the contrast of your image will increase or decrease the difference between light and dark in your renderings.
         3. False Color – In the 3D viewer, you have the option to view your renderings in False Color mode for a more quantitative view of your images.
            
            1. Luminance Bounds – Changing your luminance sets what luminance values each color in your image represents. Adjust this to focus on very bright or very dark areas.
            2. Log Scale – Adjusting your log scale sets scaling of your false color heat map.
         4. Contour Lines – This is another way to look at your false color rendering. Contour lines trace the different luminance thresholds in your rendering, using the false color legend.
            
            1. Line Spacing – Changing your line spacing sets the density of the contour lines in your image.
      2. Daylight Glare Probability scores will appear in the top bar with your hemispheric lens renderings. Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) is the “percentage of people disturbed” due to the level of vertical eye illuminance at the viewpoint being simulated. These are some guidelines to follow when analyzing DGP values:
         
         1. 0-35% Imperceptible, 35-40% Perceptible, 40-45% Disturbing, 45-100% Intolerable
   2.  
   3. Illuminance Grids – These come in the form of Point-in-time Illuminance Grids and animations. Clicking one of these activity cards will place the results inside of your 3D model.
   4. Annual Illuminance Grids – These come in the form of Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE), Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA), Continuous Daylight Autonomy (cDA), Daylight Autonomy (DA), Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI), and Average Illuminance. Clicking one of these activity cards will place the results inside of your 3D model.
   5. LEED Scorecard – These come in the form of LEED v4 and LEED 2009 Scorecards. Clicking on one of these activity cards will place select results in the 3D viewer.
      
      1. Clicking on a LEED v4 Option 1 & 2 Scorecard will automatically place your ASE scores in the 3D viewer. Click “View Report” to see all analysis types (Option 1 ASE & sDA; Option 2 9am & 3pm).
      2. Clicking on a LEED v4 Option 1 will automatically place your ASE scores in the 3D viewer. Click “View Report” to see all analysis types (Option 1 ASE & sDA).
      3. Clicking on a LEED v4 Option 2 Scorecard will automatically place your 9am scores in the 3D viewer. Click “View Report” to see all analysis types (Option 2 9am & 3pm).
      4. Clicking on LEED 2009 Scorecard will automatically place your September 21st 9am scores in the 3D viewer. Click “View Report” to see all analysis types (September 21st 9am & 3pm).
   6. Viewing model edits – By clicking the “Show model edits” button at the top of the Activity Bar, you can see any edits you’ve made to your model in the left toolbar. You can also revert to previous model states using the revert button on a history card, and you can save any state of your design to a new design using the save button on a history card.
   7. Starting a comparison – By clicking the “Compare activities” button at the top of the Activity Bar, you can compare two different simulations at once by selecting two activities from the list of simulations below.
   8. Starting a new activity – At the top of the Activity Bar, there is a “New” dropdown menu with the following options:
      
      1. Rendering/Animation – Renderings can be made on the fly or from your list of viewpoints in the left Viewpoints panel. To make renderings on the fly, simply move your 3D viewer screen to the angle and location that you want, and when you start a new rendering it will make an image at that exact spot. After clicking “Rendering/Animation” in the dropdown menu, you will be presented with a new set of simulation options:
         
         1. Date and Time – Renderings will be created at each combination of the hours, months, and days selected here:
            
            1. Switch between measuring a single point-in-time or multiple by checking the “Multiple Times” box at the top of the “Date and Time” dropdown settings.
            2. Use the bar slider to select the time(s) that will be calculated during the render. You have the option to select single or multiple months/days to test during your render.
            3. You also have the option to use Preset Date options: 1, 3, 4, 12. These Presets will choose either the month(s) of September, June/September/December, March/June/September/December, or all 12 Months. When using the preset options for Date and Time, you still have full control of the days within these months to test.
         2. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
            
            1. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
            2. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
            3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
         3. Use Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like to see blinds operating in your rendering images. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
         4. Simulation Quality depends on a list of Radiance settings. These settings will be shown as a tooltip next to the Simulation Quality setting header.
            
            1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulation in early design stages
            2. “High” and “Very High” quality renderings will be more accurate for things like reports.
            3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list. For more information on these details, visit Rendering Options (outdated Version 2.4) and Rpict documentation.
         5. Camera Settings – Adjust Camera settings to determine quality of renderings.
            
            1. 1. Lens
                  
                  1. Perspective lens – Renderings that resemble the way the human eye would see a space.
                  2. Hemispheric lens – Renderings with a wide angle (similar to a fisheye lens). Hemispheric lenses are recommended for viewing accurate Daylight Glare Probability scores, and will automatically display your DGP score on the top toolbar in the 3D viewer.
                  3. Cylindrical lens – Renderings with a panoramic look.
               2. Field of View – Adjusting field of view will change X and Y lens angles. Different lenses (above) will have different default angles. The maximun value for X or Y is 180 degrees for hemispheric and cylindrical lenses, and 175 degrees for perspective lenses.
               3. Super Sampling – Super Sampling has to do with the original size of your renderings before scaling to your target resolution. The larger this percentage, the crisper your images will be. For speed, please choose smaller percentages.
               4. Resolution changes the quality, in pixels, of your rendering.
                  
                  
                  These images show the differences that a viewpoint’s settings can make for overall quality and accuracy. On the left is a rendering simulated at Draft quality with 1 ambient bounce, 100% super sampling, and 512x512px resolution. In comparison, the image on the right was simulated at Very High quality, 7 ambient bounces, 500% super sampling, and 4000x4000px resolution.

             

            1. Section Cut – By simulating with a section cut, you can cut into your 3D model to easily view daylight performance in your building. Although walls will appear to be missing, lighting levels will stay the same as if there was no section cut. You have the option to adjust Fore and Aft section cut distances; Fore is the near plane and Aft is the far plane in your section cut. An Aft plane can cut out the bright light of the sky or ground.
            2. Analysis Viewpoint – Choose which viewpoints to analyze during the rendering.
               
               1. Current – This is render an analysis in the current viewpoint in the 3D model viewer.
               2. All Active – All Active will perform an analysis on all viewpoints that are checked “on” in th eleft panel within the 3D model space.
      2. Grid Illuminance – After clicking “Grid Illuminance” in the “New Simulation” dropdown menu, you will be presented with a list of simulation options:
         
         1. Date and Time – Results will be created at each combination of the hours, months, and days selected here:
            
            1. Switch between measuring a single point-in-time or multiple by checking the “Multiple Times” box at the top of the “Date and Time” dropdown settings.
            2. Use the bar slider to select the time(s) that will be calculated during the render. You have the option to select single or multiple months/days to test during your render.
            3. You also have the option to use Preset Date options: 1, 3, 4, 12. These Presets will choose either the month(s) of September, June/September/December, March/June/September/December, or all 12 Months. When using the preset options for Date and Time, you still have full control of the days within these months to simulate.
         2. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
            
            1. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
            2. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
            3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
         3. Use Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like to see the effect of blinds operating in your results. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
         4. Grid Settings
            
            1. Point Spacing – Point spacing is the density of your illuminance grid points. Smaller grid spacing will give more detail, but take longer to compute.
            2. Scale – You have the option to select one of two scales to measure your illuminance grid.
               
               1. 0 – 3,000+ lux
               2. 0 – 5,000+ lux
         5. Simulation Quality – Quality depends on a list of radiance settings. These settings will be shown as tooltip text next to the Quality setting header.
            
            1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulations in early design stages.
            2. “High” and “Very High” quality illuminance grids will be more accurate for things like reports.
            3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list. For more information on these details, visit Rtrace Documentation.
               
               
               The images above show the same illuminance grid simulated at draft quality (left), high quality (middle), and very high quality (right). Higher quality results show more light (ambient bounces) entering the space with increased uniformity among grid points.
               
               
      3. Annual Grid Illuminance allows you to generate illuminance grids throughout the entire year. Your simulation options include the following:
         
         1. Metrics – Annual Analysis types (multiple types can be calculated simultaneously):
            
            1. Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE)
            2. Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA)
            3. Spatial Daylight Saturation (sDS)
            4. Average Illuminance
            5. Continuous Daylight Autonomy (cDA)
            6. Daylight Autonomy (DA)
            7. Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI)For more information about each type, click here. For more information about Spatial Daylight Autonomy specifically, check out the sDA series.
         2. Period and Occupancy – Period and Occupancy determine the date range over which the simulations will be performed as well as the daily time range for your calculatinos. You can choose to either use a settable daily range (i.e. 8am – 6pm every day), or you can choose “European Standard EN17037”. “European Standard EN17037” uses the 50% of the daylight hours in a year with the highest horizontal illuminance values (base on climate data) for occupancy. Choosing “European Standard EN17037” is required for European Standard EN17037 compliance.
         3. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
            
            1. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
            2. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
            3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
         4. Use Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like to see the effect of blinds operating in your results. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
         5. Grid Settings – These settings allow you to adjust the illuminance grid(s) that are to be measured.
            
            1. Point Spacing is the density of your illuminance grid points. Smaller point spacing will give more detail, but take longer to compute, and vice versa.
            2. Color Scheme: By default, annual results will have a different color shceme for each metric, typically shades of a single color. If “Heat Map” is selected, all metrics will use a blue-to-red gradient. When time thresholds are used, values below the threshold will appear in grayscale (except for ASE).
         6. Thresholds
            
            1. Illuminance Target should be adjusted depending on the type of space you are analyzing.
            2. sDA/sDS/UDI Time Threshold represents of the minimum percentage of time your space should meet or exceed the target illuminance (above). THis number should be 50% for LEEDv4 credit.
         7. Simulation Quality depends on a list of radiance settings. These settings will be shown as tooltip text next to the Quality setting header.
            
            1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulations in early design stages.
            2. “High” and “Very High” quality illuminance grids will be more accurate for things like reports.
            3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list.
         8. Downloadable annual illumination/blinds schedule in csv format. This option allows you to generate downloadable csv files for your annual simulation. Once your simulation is complete, you can access these csv. files by opening the report and clicking the download button. Please note that annual csv. files are very much larger
         9. For groups with blinds or dynamic glass, the option “use grid-point pre-filtering” (under optimization) speeds up the simulation process by replacing illuminance grid points that are unlikely to be illuminated by each window group. They are replaced by simple geometric methods. Note that it many cause window groups to be missed in models with unique layouts.
      4. Glare Analysis – After selecting “Glare Analysis” in the “New Simulation” drop-down menu, you will be presented with 3 different glare analysis types, with their associated settings:
         
         1. DGP Rendering – This option will create a rendering/animation as well as calculate Daylight Glare Probabilities
            
            1. Date and Time – Renderings will be created at each combination of the hours, months, and days selected here:
               
               1. Switch between measuring a single point-in-time or multiple by checking the “Multiple Times” box at the top of the “Date and Time” dropdown settings.
               2. Use the bar slider to select the time(s) that will be calculated during the render. You have the option to select single or multiple months/days to test during your render.
               3. You also have the option to use Preset Date options: 1, 3, 4, 12. These Presets will choose either the month(s) of September, June/September/December, March/June/September/December, or all 12 Months. When using the preset options for Date and Time, you still have full control of the dates within these months to test.
            2. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
               
               1. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
               2. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
               3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
            3. Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like to make blinds operate for your analysis. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
            4. Simulation Quality – Quality depends on a list of radiance settings. These settings will be shown as tooltip text next to the Quality setting header.
               
               1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulations in early design stages.
               2. “High” and “Very High” quality illuminance grids will be more accurate for things like reports.
               3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list.
            5. Camera Settings – These settings allow you to adjust several options for your rendering/animation.
               
               1. Field of View – Adjusting these settings will change the X and Y lens angles. Both the X and Y default angles are 180.
               2. Super Sampling – Setting this percentage determines the original size before scaling to your target resolution. The larger this percentage, the crispier your images will be.
               3. Resolution – Adjusting the resolution will change the quality, in pixels, of your renderings.
               4. Section Cut – By simulating with a section cut, you can cut into your 3D model to easily view daylight perfomance in your building.
               5. Analysis Viewpoint – The analysis will be performed at the selected viewpoint.
         2. Glare Chart – This simulation will create a chart showing the daylight glare probability at the selected times from the selected analysis viewpoint. This analysis is typically meant to be performed from a viewpoint inside your design.
            
            1. Period and Occupancy – Adjust dates and time interval of when to run simulation. Choose custom start/end times or use the “Sunrise – Sunset” option. To adjust Day and Hour intervals to measure, change Glare Method from DGPs to DGP.
            2. Glare Method – There are two types of Total Glare analyses:
               
               1. Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) makes a rendering at every time step and then analyzes that rendering for glare. This takes longer than the Simplified Daylight Glare Probability (DGPs) but will account for more detail.
               2. Simplified Daylight Glare Probability (DGPs) measures vertical illuminance at every time step using annual data, and then estimates glare based on that value. This is significantly faster than DGP, but it is less accurate and not as sensitive to small sources of glare.
            3. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
               
               1. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
               2. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
               3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
            4. Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like to see the effect of blinds on your results. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
         3. Glare Finder – Glare Finder measures entire spaces in your model for “glare hotspots” using annual calculations and sDGP estimations. Your results will include a rendering filmstrip at the glare hotspot. The filmstrip will show the direction and DGP of the worst glare throughout the most problematic day within the period and occupancy of interest.
            
            1. Finder Settings – Choose the space (defined by an illuminance grid) to analyze, as well as the height above the floor and the point spacing to search for glare.
            2. Period and Occupancy – Adjust the dates and time intervals to search for glare. Choose custom start/end times or use the “Sunrise – Sunset” option.
            3. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
               
               1. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
               2. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
               3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
            4. Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like see the effect of blinds operating in your results. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
      5. LEED Scorecard
         
         1. LEED Scorecard Type
            
            1. LEED v4 Options 1 & 2 – Lightstanza generates a full LEED v4 NC EQc7 Daylight Credit Report with both Options 1 & 2 for you to choose the option that achieves the most daylight credit points. This scorecard is kept up-to-date with the latest USGBC addendum. When viewing your scorecard, you will have the option to display scores for both v4.0 and v4.1. It is important to utilize the small black info icons (  ) throughout, which give detailed explanations of the different elements of the report when hovering over them. To learn more about the different elements of the LightStanza LEED v4 report card, click here. You can also simulate the two options separately in order to focus on a specific option and save simulation time.
            2. LEED 2009 – This version of LEED is still accepted for specific projects. For more information about the LEED 2009 Daylight Credit, click here. You can also find information about the different LEED daylight credit options at the LightStanza References page.
         2. Blinds – Selecting “Use Blinds” means that you would like see the effect of blinds operating in your results. You can set more advanced blind settings/options in the blinds tab in the left Model Settings toolbar.
         3. Grid Settings – Point Spacing is the density of your illuminance grid points. Smaller point spacing will give you more detail, but will take longer to compute. Point spacing that is larger than 2ft is not accepted by the USGBC for LEED credit.
         4. Location: This is where your 3D model is located. You can modify location in the ‘Site’ tab in the left toolbar. You can modify default location in your Account Preferences
         5. Climate Station: This is the weather data that will be used for your simulation. You can modify weather in data in the ‘Site’ tab in the left toolbar.
         6. Downloadable annual illumination/blinds schedule in csv format. This option allows you to generate downloadable csv files for your annual simulation. Once your simulation is complete, you can access these csv files by opening the report and clicking the download button. Please note that annual csv files are very large.
      6. Daylight Factor – Daylight Factor grid point percentages represent the ratio of indoor to outdoor illuminance levels on an overcast day.
         
         1. Grid Settings – Point spacing is the density of your illuminance grid points. Smaller point spacing will give more detail, but take longer to compute, and vice versa.
         2. Quality depends on a list of radiance settings. These settings will be shown as tooltip text next to the Quality setting header.
            
            1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulations in early design stages.
            2. “High” and “Very High” quality illuminance grids will be more accurate for things like reports.
            3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list. For more information on these details, visit Rtrace Documentation.
         3. Threshold – Turn “Use DF Threshold” on to enter the target Daylight Factor score for each grid point, and color-code the results to easily see where the target is met.
         4. Location: This is where your 3D model is located. You can modify location in the ‘Site’ tab in the left toolbar. You can modify default location in your Account Preferences
      7. Total Energy Map – A Total Energy Map uses a cumulative (total) sky to generate a false color image that shows how much solar energy falls on your model within a specified period. After clicking “Total Energy Map” in the dropdown menu, you will be presented with a new set of simulation options:
         
         1. Period and Occupancy – Period is the length of time that the energy map will represent. Adjust the sliders or click on the dates and use the calendar widgets to set the date range you would like your total energy map to represent. Occupancy is the daily time range that your energy map represents.
         2. Sky Conditions – You can choose between 3 different sky types:
            
            1. Climate uses weather data dependent on your settings in the “site” tab on the left-hand side of the 3D viewer.
            2. Clear uses a sky without clouds.
            3. Overcast uses a sky with full cloud coverage.
         3. Simulation Quality – Quality depends on a list of radiance settings. These settings will be shown as tooltip text next to the Quality setting header.
            
            1. “Draft” quality is good for faster simulations in early design stages.
            2. “High” and “Very High” quality illuminance grids will be more accurate for things like reports.
            3. You also have the option to set “Custom” quality settings. Simply click “Show Quality Details” and edit your Radiance parameters directly. You can hide these details by clicking “Hide Quality Details.” To go back to a default quality setting, click between “Draft,” “High,” or “Very High” from the “Quality” list. For more information on these details, visit Rtrace Documentation.
         4. Camera Settings
            
            1. Lens
               
               1. Perspective lens resembles the way the human eye would see a space.
               2. Hemispheric lens uses a wide angle similar to a fisheye lens.
               3. Cylindrical lens has a panoramic look.
            2. Field of View – Adjusting field of view will change X and Y lens angles. Different lenses (above) will have different default angles. The minimum value for X or Y is 1°. The maximum value for X or Y is 180° for hemispheric and cylindrical lenses, and 175° for perspective lens.
            3. Super Sampling has to do with the original size of your images before scaling to your target resolution. The larger this percentage, the crisper your images will be. For speed, choose smaller percentages.
            4. Resolution changes the quality, in pixels, of your total energy map.
         5. Advanced Settings – Opaque Glass – By checking “Opaque Glass” you can simulate total energy performance on the exterior side of your model’s windows or any other transparent surface, but you will not be able to measure total energy on the inside of your model. By unchecking “Opaque Glass” you will not be able to see total energy performance on the surface of your windows or glass, but you will be able to measure total energy on the inside of your model.
         6. Analysis Viewpoint is the viewpoint that your total energy map will be generated from. An exterior viewpoint is recommended.
            
            1. To make an Total Energy Map from your current viewpoint (“Current” from the dropdown list), simply move your 3D viewer screen to the angle and location that you want, and when you start a new simulation it will make an image at that exact spot.
         7. Climate Station: This is the weather data that will be used for your simulation. You can modify weather in data in the ‘Site’ tab in the left toolbar.
         8. Location: This is where your 3D model is located. You can modify location in the ‘Site’ tab in the left toolbar. You can modify default location in your Account Preferences
      8. Navigating Activity Panel Tools – The top of the Activity panel holds several buttons to compare, view, and edit your model.

1. 1. 1. 1. Compare Activities – This button allows you to compare two seperate 2D reports of simulations that have been run.
         2. Intelligent Perspective/Section Cut – This button will allow you to toggle Smart Camera Position and Smart Section Cut on and off for easily viewing grid-based simulation results within your 3D model.
         3. Revert Model to Previous State – When selecting this button you will be prompted to select a model state to revert to represented by history cards in the Activity Panel. Once you revert to a previous model state, this action cannot be undone.
         4. Make a Copy of Your Design – This button will create a new copy of your model in its current state in the 3D viewer (so if you are viewing a previous state in the model history, the copy will have the properties of that previous state). After selecting this button you will be prompted to name your new design before continuing.
         5. Show/Hide Simulation Results or Model Edits – Here you can show/hide cards in the Activity Panel that represent Simulation Results and/or Model Edits.
         6. Filter Activites – This button will allow you to filter cards in the Activity Panel strictly by the Simulation Type.
         7. Viewing previous activities – Each card in the activity bar is an individual activity. The cards consist of a few basic navigational elements.