If you start off a design on plan, you should figure out at the same time what it really looks like, such as producing the side elevations, or using computer visualization tools (e.g. Building Information Modelling – BIM) to generate 3D or walk-through images, etc. to help assess its practicability.
2. Taking rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panel installation in Hong Kong as an example, Figure 1 shows the layout designs of PV panels (in blue) on the upper roofs of two similar buildings A and B with different orientations. The panels should all be tilted at about 22 degree (approximate latitude of Hong Kong) facing south in order to capture the most amount of sunlight the whole year round for maximizing the electricity yield. For Building B, the PV panels can no longer be placed side by side in a straight line but are offset in order to fulfil the aforesaid tilting angle and direction criteria.