Methodology canon

Locale Element Profiling — 9-Input Stack

Quick read

Every audit measures your unit on 9 inputs — facing, Period 9 chart, surrounding sha, road flow, sector qi, building shape, entrance, support behind, and frontage. Each gets an element reading (Fire / Water / Wood / Metal / Earth) and a weight. Together they produce a single locale element profile that gets matched against your trade.

The 9 inputs at a glance

#InputHeadline weightWhat it captures
1Building facing~25%24-mountain compass direction the entrance faces
2Period 9 flying-star chartPeriod overlay (2024–2043) based on facing + build year
3Surrounding sha (杀气)~15%Visible threats: road daggers, knife corners, hospitals, viaducts
4Sector qi~15%District element character (Orchard = Fire-Metal, Ubi = Earth, etc.)
5Entrance configuration~15%Where qi enters: visibility, threshold, door alignment
6Road / virtual water~10%Roads read as Water: flow direction, gradient, intersection proximity
7Building shape + material~10%Container effect: glass-tower = Metal, concrete-rectangle = Earth
8Support behind (背山)~5%Retention: solid building / hill behind = good; drainage / empty = drain
9Frontage / accessibility~5%MRT distance, foot-traffic, line-of-sight from approach

Weights shift by trade. F&B-cooking-led puts more on facing + Period 9; finance / legal puts more on building shape + sector qi.

Sample finding

Input 3 — Surrounding sha (drag −9). A T-junction road points directly at the unit frontage (路冲, road dagger). Classical severity Tier 4 of 5. The road's Water-element flow drives qi at the entrance rather than letting it accumulate. Remediation: angled door rework, partial visual screening, or a counter-element water feature on the affected side.

Every audit returns a finding like this for each input that moved the score meaningfully — risk side and lever side.

Input detail

1. Building facing — 24-mountain compass

Classical fengshui uses a 24-mountain compass: 8 cardinal directions × 3 sub-divisions each = 24 facings. "Facing" is where the entrance points; "sitting" is the opposite.

Source: satellite + Google Maps. Tier 2 site visit corrects with an on-site compass reading.
Element map: S = Li (Fire), N = Kan (Water), E = Zhen (Wood), W = Dui (Metal), NE = Gen (Earth), SE = Xun (Wood), SW = Kun (Earth), NW = Qian (Metal). 24-mountain subdivisions refine further.

2. Period 9 flying-star overlay

Period 9 (2024–2043) is governed by Li (Fire, South). Every building inherits a Period 9 base chart based on facing + build year (or last major renovation). Annual flying stars cycle on top.

Source: computed deterministically by flying_stars_calculator.py.
Period 9 specifically: south-favored; fire-element trades at peak; water-trades need careful sector placement. See the Period 9 page for full detail.

3. Surrounding sha — visible threats

Sha qi (杀气) = sharp, hostile, draining energy patterns nearby. The audit catalogues:

Each sha has a documented severity scale and remediation options.
Source: intake photos + satellite. Claude vision flags candidates; methodology rules confirm.
Element role: sha contributes drain rather than element — it reduces the effective score for any trade whose element passes through the sha's affected sector.

4. Road configuration — virtual water

In classical fengshui, roads are virtual water: they bring qi in and out.

Element role: roads = Water; the flow dynamic adjusts how that Water contributes.

5. Sector qi — district character

Every SG district has a documented qi profile based on its historical use, current commercial mix, and topography.

SectorElement character
CBD (Raffles Place, Marina)Metal
OrchardFire-Metal hybrid
GeylangFire (historical)
Marina Bay (Sands area)Water-Metal
Tuas / industrialMetal + Earth
Bishan / AMK / Toa PayohEarth
Tampines / PunggolEarth (new town)
Bukit Timah / HollandWood-Earth
Ubi / Bedok / Paya LebarEarth

Full sector pages at SG sectors. Per-trade per-sector weights stay proprietary.

6. Building shape, materials, height

The building's own element modifies the unit's effective field. A Wood-trade in a glass tower (Metal building) faces inherent ke-cycle pressure from the container itself.

7. Entrance — visibility, threshold, alignment

One of the highest-weight inputs in classical commercial fengshui — qi enters here.

8. Mountain / building support (背山)

Classical fengshui prizes support from behind. In urban SG:

Support adjusts retention rather than adding element.

9. Frontage + accessibility

The intentional overlap between fengshui and commercial real-estate analysis. The methodology treats these as element-relevant: visibility = Fire, flow = Water, accessibility = Metal.

What this means for your audit

You submit address + photos + a short intake form. The audit derives all 9 inputs from that — no on-site visit at Tier 1. The report shows you each input's element reading, its contribution to the score (positive or negative), and the top 3 inputs we'd act on first. You don't need to memorise the framework to read the report; the framework is published so the report's reasoning can be verified.