Evaluation of the Shading Efficiency of the Shading Devices Installed in the Tram Stations in Athens

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the shading devices installed in the stations of the Athenian tram, in regard to the shading efficiency they provided during summer months and for the time period from 9:00 to 17:00, which is the time period of the day with the greatest solar intensity. The existing network of stations of the Athenian tram was recorded after conducting in situ visits, where the characteristics of the installed shading devices, such as orientation, dimensions and symmetries, were registered. Based on the registered data, the shading devices were categorized according to their symmetries in four categories and also they were drawn in three dimensional designs in ACAD. For the evaluation of the provided shading efficiency, two methods were used. The first one was based on the Ecotect program, a program analysing bioclimatic behaviour of structures, which in this case provided overshadowing percentages, while the second one was based on a program created specifically for this study in MATLAB source code. The shading efficiency was evaluated per orientation for the two most common types of shading devices (type A and C) and also for all of the existing shading devices installed in the tram stations. The overshadowing percentages of the shading devices are affected by the orientation of their major axis. The orientations providing the higher percentages are on the West – East axis and around it, while on the North – South axis and around it, the percentages become smaller.