Grasshopper script for automatically generated highly flexible external louvred shading devices

This file is a grasshopper (.gh) script allowing to generate highly parametric louvred shading devices in front of windows. It is compatible to create co-simulation with Honeybee and Ladybug (with Daysim). The script is validated with a full scale experimental analysis. 

The louvred shading device is generated from the base geometry of the lamella which is a diamond-shaped surface defined by the thickness of the lamella and their width. The diamond-shape is then multiplied n-times, with n being the number of louvres, initially evenly distributed along the vertical axis of the window geometry. Then, the individual height of each louvre can be modified by providing a list of coordinates for the desired position of the louvres. The tilt angle of the louvres is also controlled either with a single slider input if the louvres are equally tilted or a list of angles. The diamond-shape base surface of the louvres is then rotated following that angle from the horizontal position. The base shapes are finally extruded to match the required width of the window. 
Each lamella in the system can be further customized depending on the thickness, width and angle one wants to give it. To be able to freely distribute the lamella in the vertical axis of the window, the script allows multiple types of input: one can either require evenly spaced and distributed lamella, a list of input with inter- lamella distances, a list of coordinates or a genetic pool panel with variable values in given ranges. When using the latter, an additional part of the script is used to avoid geometric collisions between the lamella. To do so, a so-called “safety interval” is calculated around each lamella based on the size and the angle of adjacent lamellas. This is used to create what could be considered a “no lamella zone” and can be increased with an additional safety distance of choice. The position of the louvres is then effectively controlled by two parameters instead of just one, the size of the zones where the lamella can be, which are separated above and below by “no lamella zones” and a second input which controls where in the lamella zone is each lamella placed. 
Once the lamella geometries are created, the elements are connected to a Honeybee_context component with a radiance material description and then connected to the Honeybee_zone input of the Honeybee_annual_daylight component. For the thermal model, the geometries are connected to a different custom-made script which allows modifying the reflectance of the louvres by overwriting the default value of 0.2 in the IDF generated for EnergyPlus. This is done by generating text which should be connected in the additional strings input and redefines the Honeybee_context properties. In EnergyPlus, this includes defining the portion of the element which is glazed as a window to wall ration since context elements can be other surrounding building, the reflectance of the glazed part and the reflectance of the opaque part of the context. The geometries are also passed through a Honeybee_context component and connected as HB context on the Run EnergyPlus component.