Parisi, Alfio V., Amar, Abdurazaq, Downs, Nathan J., Igoe, Damien P., Harrison, Simone L., and Turner, Joanna (2019) Development of a model for calculating the solar ultraviolet protection factor of small to medium sized built shade structures. Building and Environment, 147. pp. 415-421.

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Abstract

A method was proposed for calculating the ultraviolet protection factor (PF) of small to medium built shade structures. The method takes into account the amount of sky view visible from under the structure, the transmittance of the roof material, the relative amount of diffuse ultraviolet radiation (UV), the measurement position under the structure and the albedo of the relevant surfaces. The PF of four different shade structure designs was measured 90 cm above ground-level at the centre of the widest diameter of each structure. Measurements were only made on cloud-free days. Three structures had a thin metal roof and the fourth had shade-cloth. The proportion of sky view ranged from 4.6% to 15.4% for these structures. The influence of position was investigated for one structure, with the PF evaluated 50 cm in from each of the sides at 90 cm above ground-level. The reliability of the method was tested by comparing calculated and measured PF values for solar zenith angles ranging from 7° to 49°. The mean absolute difference between the calculated and the measured PF for these small to medium structures was 1.4 PF (14%). The proposed method is more likely to be widely used to measure the PF in situ compared to measuring UV in full sun and in the shade with a UV meter because many stakeholders do not have access to UV meters due to the cost or the degree of specialization required to use these meters effectively.

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