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Heat with the Sun Nothing can be more comfortable for body and mind than living in a good solar-heated house. I say "good", because proper design is crucial to the comfort of such a house. You may have gone into a solar house and felt stifled by the glaring heat, or perhaps you shivered from the lack of it. Good passive solar design will provide just enough sunlight into the rooms to be absorbed by the surrounding thermal mass (usually masonry materials), so that the heat will be given back into the room when the sun goes down. The thermal mass is a kind of "heat battery" that stores the warmth, absorbing it to keep the room from getting too hot during the day. Equally important to thermal mass is insulation (such as straw bales or crushed volcanic rock) that will keep that heat inside. Thermal mass materials need to be insulated from the outside, or else they will just bleed that warmth right back out. A rock house might have tons of mass, but be uncomfortably cold because of this energy bleed. So a good solar design will utilize materials of the right type in the right places, blending thermal dynamics with utilitarian design.
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THIS SITE ARTICLE: |
The
Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling
by Daniel D. Chiras, 2002. Passive solar heating and passive cooling
-- approaches known as natural conditioning -- provide comfort throughout
the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet
while heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for
the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the
principles involved. Now Dan Chiras, author of the popular book The
Natural House, brings those principles up to date for a new generation
of solar enthusiasts.
The techniques required
to heat and cool a building passively have been used for thousands of
years. Early societies such as the Native American Anasazis and the
ancient Greeks perfected designs that effectively exploited these natural
processes. The Greeks considered anyone who didn't use passive solar
to heat a home to be a barbarian! |
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Solar House : A Guide for the Solar Designer by Terry Galloway, 2004. Covering the full life span of the project, from siting issues through specific design features to maintenance of the property and equipment, this is a comprehensive guide to designing, planning and building a solar house. The author uses his experience of living in a solar house to inform the reader of the technology and practices needed for the design, operation and maintenance of the solar home. Each of the technologies of the house, such as space heating and cooling, domestic hot water and electric power technologies, are critiqued from the point of view of the owner/resident, with the author using his thirty years experience of living in a solar home. This provides home owners who are thinking of going solar with first hand evidence of best practice, and provides the architect and designer with the knowledge of how to best satisfy their clients needs.
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Passive Solar House: The Complete Guide to Heating and Cooling Your Home by James Kachadorian, 2006. For the past ten years The Passive Solar House has offered proven techniques for building homes that heat and cool themselves, using readily available materials and methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourself homeowners. True to this innovative, straightforward approach, the new edition of this best-selling guide includes CSOL passive solar design software, making it easier than ever to heat your home with the power of the sun. Since The Passive Solar House was first published, passive solar construction expert James Kachadorian has perfected user-friendly, PC-compatible software to supplement the design process explained in the book by allowing homeowners/designers to enter the specifications of their design and see how changing a variable will affect its energy efficiency. This is the building book for a world of climbing energy costs. Applicable to diverse regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian's techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design into practical wisdom for today's solar builders. Profiles of successful passive solar design, construction, and retrofit projects from readers of the first edition provide inspiration to first-time homebuilders and renovators alike. |
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Sun-inspired House: Ideas And House Plans Using the Sun to Brighten And Warm Your Home by Debra Rucker Coleman, 2005. This bok provides a unique combination of passive solar information and house plans designed to use the sun to maximum efficiency. The information is educational while the designs are inspirational. The elegant yet functional homes capture the non-polluting heat and wonderful light of the sun in a wide range of warm and welcoming styles. Blueprints are available for most of the designs. Debra Rucker Coleman, Architect and President of Sun Plans, Inc. has designed passive solar homes since 1985. Some of her work has been featured in Fine Homebuilding, Solar Today, and Home Energy. Coleman has lived in hot, moderate, and cold climates, but currently resides in Alabama, in a sun-tempered home for which she was both the architect and general contractor.
Going Solar: Understanding And Using The Warmth In Sunlight by Tomm Stanley, 2005. By distilling thousands of years of history and knowledge into one book, Tomm Stanley brings together the work of pioneering solar designers, some of the greatest scientists that the world has known and a range of modern, practical applications for hands-on people to create a delicious brew of thought provoking, solar thermal discussion. Enthusiastically coaxing readers through the essential concepts at work in fields of study as diverse as history, geography, nuclear physics, thermodynamics and astronomy, Going Solar reveals the "how's" and "why's" behind the solar heating phenomenon. When the subject matter turns to a study of devices that use solar heat, readers have a firm grasp of the natural forces at work and an appreciation of how the technology might be applied in their own lives. |
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Hot Dirt, Cool Straw by Nora Richter Greer, Dennis Wedlick, James Grayson Trulove, 2001. Ecologically designed homes have come a long way since the '60s, when the focus was largely on energy efficiency. Hot Dirt Cool Straw features 25 case studies of beautiful homes designed by leading architects who marry good design with minimal environmental impact. Many of these unique, fabulous houses have walls built with straw or earth, materials which are sturdy and allow the homes to cool and heat themselves naturally. This remarkable reference also features eco-friendly homes made of wood that has been salvaged from previous uses or comes from environmentally sensitive lumberyards. Each case study includes dazzling photography, as well as carefully detailed plans, drawings, and schematics.
Heating, Cooling, Lighting : Design Methods for Architects by Norbert Lechner, 2000. Qualitative graphic approach to understanding the techniques of heating, cooling, and lighting reflects the decision-making approach of architects and students. Useful appendices provide sun path diagrams and solar site evaluation tools, as well as practical checklists of strategies and issues in evaluating energy use in the building design stage, and an annotated list of helpful sustainability videos to use in class, professional meetings, or with clients. A chapter on photovoltaics discusses their use as an ideal energy source, offers design options, and case studies as well as their future role in building design. A chapter on sustainable "green" design includes case studies and examples of water conservation measures, effects from energy production and consumption, and an analysis of indoor air quality. Mathematical formulas are excerpted from the text and appear in side boxes, so they don't cloud the text with overly-technical information.
A Survey of Passive Solar Buildings by Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, U. S. Department of Energy, AIA Research Corporation, 2005. This publication of passive solar projects built in the United States has been prepared to document the state of the art in passive solar design. Passive solar heating and cooling can provide a major percentage of the buildings' energy requirement, while at the same time representing a heightened level of involvement for the architect in the design stages of the building. The full potential of this passive conditioning depends on a sensitive awareness of the relationship between climate, comfort, and the thermal characteristics of buildings and building materials. Passive solar systems are often misunderstood and vaguely defined. Many of the approaches to passive solar heating and cooling are at rudimentary stages, with little performance data and evaluation, few modeling techniques, and minimal published information. Yet for the building designer and the occupant, these concepts have major implications in the design and use of buildings. The purpose of this publication is to offer a working definition and a basic understanding of a number of existing applications of passive solar designs. Methods of passive solar design are not presented in this publication; nor are rules of thumb or passive solar assemblies and components. A reference bibliography has been included to assist the reader who desires more information and to stimulate additional individual research and testing.
Retrofitting for Energy Conservation by William H. Clark, 1997. Here is an expert guide that offers you practical solutions to remodeling and retrofitting for energy-conservation needs and code requirements. The book covers all 4 major areas of retrofit: electrical, HVAC, architectural, and control...plus techniques necessary for completing any job on time and within budget, as well as the newest and most-requested energy-efficient materials. Included are proven methods for retrofitting glass...walls, roofs, and floors...humidity control devices...lighting fixtures...motors ..attic insulation...air handlers...sensors...and much more! The author has a website (archi-tech-software.com) where the software associated with this book can be downloaded for free.
The Simply Solar House: Green Building on a Budget by Richard and Yoko Crume, 2007. This desribes a practical approach to designing a highly energy efficient house using common construction materials and practices. Drawing upon their experience building a solar house in central North Carolina, the authors describe the key features of energy efficient home design in simple and easy to understand language.
Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water And Space Heating Systems by Bob Ramlow, Benjamin Nusz, 2006. This book reviews the history of solar water & space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author's experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover: Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages; System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance; System sizing and siting; Choosing the appropriate system. The book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run.
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The
Solar Home: How to Design and Build a House You Heat With the Sun
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The
Passive Solar Design and Construction Handbook
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Sun,
Wind & Light: Architectural Design Strategies
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Solar
Heating and Cooling: Active and Passive Design
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How to Build and Benefit from a Passive Solar Collector as a Space Heater
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Affordable Passive Solar Homes : Low-Cost, Compact Designs
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PLANS
This is a 3 bedroom, 2 story, 3000 sf house, with attached garage. The design goals were to build a resource efficient, off-the-grid solar home, with no connected public utilities other than a phone line, and to use the home to generate performance data that would document how well the home's design and materials performed to keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter. According to Paul Breaux, a physicist, Chez Soleil performs much better than he expected. The home's temperature is comfortable year round, there is little home maintenance and operating expense, and the many people who tour the home can see and feel the benefits of "green" construction.Very little artificial lighting is needed during the day; natural light is plentiful on both the first and second floors due to window placement and open floor design. Chez Soleil has been written up in several publications including Environmental Design & Construction, the Austin American-Statesman, Southern Living, Mother Earth News, and Solar Today. Chez Soleil was selected by the American Solar Energy Society for the society's solar home tours, and was featured at the 23rd National Passive Solar Conference.
The house was primarily designed for southern exposure to maximize passive solar gain and the efficiency of rooftop solar collectors for electricity. The dining room, living room, and kitchen are incorporated into one open space to give as much utility as possible, and help the home maintain a comfortable and even internal temperature year around. An “attached sunspace” on the east and part of the south sides of the house is an integral part of what makes the house work so well. It provides solar heating during winter, and 700 square feet of growing room. It is a “buffer zone” during warm weather, as large overhangs shade the direct sun out. The lower part of the foundation is not insulated; it is coupled to the warmer subsoil, which stays at about 70 degrees all year. This system allows the home's thick thermal mass walls to dissipate heat during the summer, and absorb and retain heat when it is cool. The system helps maintain a relatively consistent indoor year around temperature without the need to use a nonrenewable energy source. The main concern was to balance heat gain during the winter with heat dissipation during the summer. Subsoil temperature fluctuations on this particular site were determined, and used to determine how deep the foundation's insulation should go on each side of the house. Stored solar heat is released from the water containers as needed. Heat flows naturally by low temperature radiation and by warm air convection to the north side of the house, thus balancing comfort zones throughout the living space. For more information about this plan, and many others, visit our sister site www.dreamgreenhomes.com, where you will find a wide range of plans for sustainable homes, greenhouses, small buildings, garages, and food storage space for sale. Dream Green Homes is a consortium of outstanding architects and designers, who have pooled their talent and expertise for your benefit. |
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greenerbuildings.com Outlines Energy Tax Credits available from the U.S. Federal Government. greenhouse.gov.au this extensive on-line manual describes many aspects of passive solar design from site selection to evaluating performance...a great introduction to the topic! Seabird Island Project shows unique design for the solar heating of water and space through warm air collection and geothermal heat tubes. insuladd.com makes both an additive that can be combined with any paint, as well as their own formulation of paint that utilizes miniature ceramic spheres to reflect radiant heat, so that buildings that are coated with this are much better insulated from unwanted incoming heat and loss of heat from the inside...a remarkable product! ecoforums.com a group of forums related to ecological living, including one on solar heating. kahl.net/solarch
shareware electronic primer on passive solar architecture. archi-tech-software.com offers free downloadable software for tools to reduce utility bills by targeting the most effective energy conservation projects. consumerenergycenter.com good overview of passive solar concepts. New Mexico Solar Energy Association description of passive solar concepts. squ1.com this ecologically oriented architectural software company has assembled a huge array of related information. greenershelter.com a description of Don Stephens' Annualized Geo-Solar Design as compared to the"Passive Annual Heat Storage" (PAHS) concept...using the surrounding earth to store summer heat for winter use. new.solarthermal.com an animated display of an integrated concept for both water and space solar heating. solarmaxheatinginc.com a description of a commercial active solar hot air heating system from Canada. sunplans.com carries an impressive array of passive solar house designs. mobilehomerepair.com describes how to make a simple and inexpensive solar air heater. aud.ucla.edu a free software analysis of the energy equation of your house. gsc.nrcan.gc.ca find the number of degrees off from magnetic south you are at a specific location. sailshadeyourhome.com simple Roman shades that are insulated with R-7 Reflectix. Instructions for how to make your own Roman Sailshade without the need to sew the fabric. |
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