Chicago (demonstration)

The courtyard with two different privacy problems

When reading chair is open for reading for an hour

Each month read on its 30th, or the last day of a shorter month · 2026

Works
Tight
No
Unanswered

Rings run from 7 am at the centre to 9 pm at the edge. Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline. Each month is its 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, not a promise about the other days.

Reading chair is open for reading for an hour 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, November to February. It opens at different hours March to April, May, September and October. Shut June to August.

November to February: open 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
March to April: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
May: open 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. What it feels like is what closes it.
June to August: shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like is what stops it.
September: open 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
October: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.

The shut months are shut for one reason: what it feels like. That is the thing to change if you want the season longer, and it is a different job from making the open months better.

The same year as a table

Month	Open	Usable hours	What decides it
January 30	11:00 AM–3:00 PM	4 h	What it feels like closes it
February 28	10:00 AM–4:00 PM	6 h	What it feels like closes it
March 30	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h	What it feels like closes it
April 30	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
May 30	9:00 AM–10:00 AM	1 h	What it feels like closes it
June 30	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
July 30	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
August 30	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
September 30	5:00 PM–7:00 PM	2 h
October 30	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h	What it feels like closes it
November 30	10:00 AM–4:00 PM	6 h	What it feels like closes it
December 30	11:00 AM–3:00 PM	4 h	What it feels like closes it

Reading chair for Read for an hour. October 30, 2026 at 3:00 AM, America/Chicago. Now on this date. Confidence low. Cause: What it feels like is what stops it.

Reading

For

Even light, no glare on the page, enough quiet to forget the time.

Read for an hour

Reading chair does not work for reading for an hour right now, and what it feels like is why.

“No” means the model does not support this use under the conditions being read. The controlling limits are listed below.

Past the limit What it feels like is about 39°F — 22°F under (at least 61°F)Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.
The air is 45.1°F. It feels about 6.1 degrees cooler than the air, near 39°F.
An hour is long enough for a few degrees to matter.

Still unanswered:Noise

Why it is unanswered

Noise. Nobody has told us what the noise is like here, and it is not something geometry can infer.

What would change this. This would change if what it feels like were measured rather than estimated, or if noise were measured.

Confidence low (49%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from

Use: Read for an hour
Place: Reading chair
Weather: Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
Method: Traced geometry and radiation at this hour, measured against what this use needs

Try a change Make a document

What next here

Testing a change

4 of 8 milestones. The place is described well enough to ask what a change would do, and to find out whether the forecast was right.

Getting an honest answer4 of 4 done
- Placed on the earth — done. The sun is in the right part of the sky for this address.
- A spot to read — done. 1 spot is being read.
- What stands in the way — done. 2 things are drawn, so the shade is worked out rather than assumed.
- Who can see in — done. Privacy and sightlines can be answered here.
Testing a changeyou are here0 of 2 done
- A change tested — not done. Testing a change before buying it is the cheapest part of the whole exercise.
- A forecast checked — not done. A forecast nobody goes back and checks is a guess with a date on it.
Proving it well enough to spend money0 of 2 done
- Corrected against reality — not done. After a couple of rechecks the model can be corrected against this specific garden.
- Photographed — not done. A photograph is what turns a drawing somebody sketched into a drawing somebody can check.

Get this place to Annotated
A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions. Right now: Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place. What is missing: Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one. Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
2 things left
Test a change before you buy anything
The plan is good enough to ask what a screen, a tree or a canopy would actually do here — including the ones that turn out to be a waste of money.
a few minutes, nothing bought
Add a second spot and compare the two
One spot gives a verdict; two give a reason. Most of what is worth learning here is why one corner works at six and the other never does.
one tap, then read across

2 more things worth doing here

See how this spot changes through the year
A terrace that works in July can be unusable in September for reasons that have nothing to do with temperature. The same geometry read in four seasons is the cheapest insight here.
a read, nothing to enter
Photograph the spot and mark what is in shot
A photograph is what separates a drawing you sketched from a drawing somebody else can check. It is also how heights get corrected without a ladder.
one photograph

How well this place is described

Mapped

Quick
Mapped
Annotated
Measured

Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from the geometry on this plan. Unmeasured dimensions remain estimates, not verified measurements.

Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place.

To reach Annotated

Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.

What that buys: A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions.

Everything that was checked

Quick A place on the earth: Chicago (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
Quick Somewhere to read: 1 spot marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
Mapped The things in the way: 2 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
Mapped What is underfoot: 1 of 1 readings sit on a mapped surface.
Mapped Where the property ends: Drawn, so the product can tell you when the cheapest fix stands on someone else's land.
Annotated Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
Annotated Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
Annotated Who can see in: 2 observers marked.
Measured Heights off a tape: All 2 objects are marked as measured.
Measured Something checked against the day: Nothing has been checked against a real afternoon. The model is unopposed, which is not the same as being right.

What to measure next

Ranked by how far the answer moves, not by a checklist

1What the paving actually isOne photoFlips the answerWetness ±26
Photograph the paving next to something white. How dark it is decides both how hot it gets underfoot and how much light it throws back up at a seated person.
Across the plausible range this flips the answer between Works and Tight. Worth going outside for.
Mark it on the plan Add photo evidence
reflectance 0.1 → works 83 · reflectance 0.25 → tight 77 · reflectance 0.45 → tight 71
Currently assuming: reflectance 0.3, assumed. Tested across 0.1 to 0.45.

BuildingNot yours (dashed edge)CanopySun’s path today (schematic)Can see inWhat a window can see, cut short where something is in the wayProposed

To scale · to the measurements given: Drawn to scale from the measurements given. Not a survey. It is not a survey.

Reading at

3:00 AM·October

The sun is down.

October 30 · Reading chair Schematic

7:22 AM5:07 PM

Works (solid)
Tight (lined)
No (pale, edged)

The sun reaches Reading chair at 7:22 AM. Reading chair loses the sun at 5:07 PM because of the Existing side fence.

The evidence behind this whole day is thin, so nothing on the strip is marked out as worse than the rest. The shape of the day is still the model’s best reading; the confidence in it is low, and it stays low until something it needs is measured.

Reading chair is open for reading for an hour 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM.

About 9.5 hours in October, and what it feels like is what closes it.

The same day as a table

The same day hour by hour, in text.
Hour	Sun	Verdict	Confidence	Sun position
12:00 AM	dark	No	a starting hypothesis
3:00 AM	dark	No	a starting hypothesis
6:00 AM	dark	No	a starting hypothesis
8:00 AM	in sun	No	a starting hypothesis	6° up, bearing 115°
9:00 AM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	16° up, bearing 126°
10:00 AM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	24° up, bearing 139°
11:00 AM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	30° up, bearing 153°
12:00 PM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	34° up, bearing 170°
1:00 PM	in sun	Tight	a starting hypothesis	34° up, bearing 188°
2:00 PM	in sun	Tight	a starting hypothesis	31° up, bearing 204°
3:00 PM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	25° up, bearing 219°
4:00 PM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	17° up, bearing 232°
5:00 PM	in sun	Works	a starting hypothesis	7° up, bearing 244°
6:00 PM	dark	Tight	a starting hypothesis
9:00 PM	dark	No	a starting hypothesis

When the sun arrives and leaves, to the minute.
When	What happens
7:22 AM	The sun reaches Reading chair at 7:22 AM.
5:07 PM	Reading chair loses the sun at 5:07 PM because of the Existing side fence.

Direct sun at reading chair, month by month

Schematic · computed

Reading chair gets the most direct sun in April, about 14 hours on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and the least in January, about 9 hours.

Sun reaches the spot (solid)
Sun up, something in the way (lined)
Sun down (empty)

The grid, in a table

Hours of direct sun at Reading chair on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and when.
Month	Direct sun	When
January	9 h	8:00 AM–5:00 PM
February	11 h	7:00 AM–6:00 PM
March	12 h	7:00 AM–7:00 PM
April	14 h	6:00 AM–8:00 PM
May	14 h	6:00 AM–8:00 PM
June	14 h	6:00 AM–8:00 PM
July	14 h	6:00 AM–8:00 PM
August	12 h	7:00 AM–7:00 PM
September	11 h	7:00 AM–6:00 PM
October	10 h	8:00 AM–6:00 PM
November	9 h	7:00 AM–4:00 PM
December	9 h	8:00 AM–5:00 PM

The sun’s path on the plan, October 30, in a table

Where the sun is at each hour it is up.
Hour	Comes from	Height
8:00 AM	SE (115°)	6° up
9:00 AM	SE (126°)	16° up
10:00 AM	SE (139°)	24° up
11:00 AM	SE (153°)	30° up
12:00 PM	S (170°)	34° up
1:00 PM	S (188°)	34° up
2:00 PM	SW (204°)	31° up
3:00 PM	SW (219°)	25° up
4:00 PM	SW (232°)	17° up
5:00 PM	SW (244°)	7° up

What the place is doing at 3am in October

Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape).

What it feels like

Estimatecold

39°F

Felt temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The air is 45.1°F. It feels about 6.1 degrees cooler than the air, near 39°F.

What is doing it

Take every named influence away and this reads 41°F. How much sky is overhead takes off 2°F. That lands at 39°F.

How this was worked out

Air: 45.1°F from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
Radiant: 29.5°F mean radiant temperature
Method: Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

Direct sun

Worked outafter dark

0 W/m²

Beam reaching this point

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The sun is down.

How this was worked out

Sun: below the horizon
Traced: 0% of the beam reaches this point

Glare

Worked outnone

On the 0–100 reporting scale: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale. Not a measurement.

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above; the tick is where this use stops working.

Nothing bright is in the line of sight at this hour.

How this was worked out

Facing: 190deg

Privacy exposure

Worked outscreened

On the 0–100 reporting scale: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale. Not a measurement.

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above; the tick is where this use stops working.

Nothing marked here has a usable line to this seat.

What is doing it

East upstairs window
+0.0
West shared path
+0.0

How this was worked out

Observers: 2 marked
Method: Eye-to-eye rays, then scaled by how much brighter the seat is than the observer's own surroundings

Wind

Estimatestill

1 mph

Wind at the seat

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

Existing side fence is taking about 58% of the wind off this spot.

What is doing it

Existing side fence
−1.1 mph

How this was worked out

Reference: 6.1 mph at 10 m from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
At seat height: 1.9 mph before shelter
Shelter: 58% removed by what stands upwind

View

Worked outopen

100

On the 0–100 reporting scale: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale. Not a measurement.

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The view from this seat is essentially intact.

What is doing it

Long garden view
+100

How this was worked out

Corridors: Long garden view
Method: Rays sampled across each corridor's angular window

Surface heat

Estimatecomfortable

45°F

Surface temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The surface is running about 45°F.

How this was worked out

Surface: Courtyard
Method: Absorbed shortwave against air temperature, flattened by air movement (from a published source)

Wetness

Estimatedries-fast

1 × the open

Drying time against the open

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

Still air here; moving air does a surprising amount of the drying.

How this was worked out

Drying rate: 0.000 in/hour here
Method: Penman combination equation on the radiation and air actually reaching this spot (from a published source)

Light after dark

Unanswered

No exterior or window light has been placed yet, so what changes after dark is unanswered.

Ask something else about this place

Everything on the plan, in text

Thing	Reading	Standing	Note
House	23 ft	Measured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.	100 per cent solid.
Existing side fence	5 ft 11 in	Measured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.	100 per cent solid.
East upstairs window	open	Measured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.	36 ft away, eye height 15 ft 1 in, 18 degrees above the seat.
West shared path	blocked	Measured: Taken with a tape, a compass or a clock at the place.	27 ft away, eye height 5 ft 3 in, 3 degrees above the seat.