Development of an improved shade environment for the reduction of personal UV exposure

Abstract

The research from this project has quantified the solar UV environment beneath and surrounding typical local council public shade structures. The effects of changing seasons, atmospheric conditions, structural modifications and surrounding plant life on diffuse UV have been quantified. Strategies to improve current shade structures, so as to significantly reduce the levels of diffuse UV reaching the human body in the shade, have also been developed. For the shade structures used in this research it was found that ultraviolet protection factors ranged from 1.5 to 18.3 for a decreasing solar zenith angle. Correlations have been found relating diffuse erythemal UV to UV in the shade for clear skies and a changing solar zenith angle. The effect of changing atmospheric ozone levels on diffuse erythemal UV levels has been quantified. UV exposures were assessed for a decrease in scattered UV beneath specific shade structures by the use of two types of protection, namely, side-on polycarbonate sheeting and evergreen vegetation. Broadband radiometric and dosimetric measurements conducted in the shade of a scale model shade structure, during summer and winter, showed significant decreases in exposure of up to 65% for summer and 57% for winter when comparing the use and non-use of polycarbonate sheeting. Measurements conducted in the shade of four shade structures, with various amounts of vegetation blocking different sides, showed that adequate amounts and positioning of vegetation decreased the scattered UV in the shade by up to 89% when compared to the shade structure that had no surrounding vegetation. This research shows that major UV reduction could be achieved by the ‘shade creation and design industry’, and that shade guidelines should be updated as soon as possible.