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The most popular type of passive solar design in a modern home is the direct-gain system. The basic idea is the same as the ancient people used; design your home so that the sun can enter and warm your home during the day while also absorbing some of that heat and releasing it slowly throughout the night. It helps if you have heat absorbing high-mass materials, like concrete slab, brick or plaster walls. The house then becomes it's own solar collector without the use of fans, pumps or blowers...thus "Passive".
To make passive solar houses work most efficiently you really need to spend more money upfront on design to save the most money in energy bills over the life of the building. The house should be oriented so that the longer axis of the house runs east-west to provide for more area for south facing windows. Depending on the lot this may not be simple. A little extra professional thought, design and planning upfront will save you lots of money later.
In some cases the lot and house may warrant a different passive solar concept such as the use of a thermal storage wall, a sunspace, or even just suntempering.
In a thermal storage wall, also called a Trombe wall, sunlight passes through south facing glass and is absorbed by an outer surface wall made from a high mass material. As the high-mass wall heats up it stores heat and conducts it through the wall to warm the adjacent living space.
A sunspace is like a glass sunroom on the south facing side of the house that heats up during the day and you have vents to move that heat into other rooms or close them off when needed.
Suntempering is the simplest, but least effective form of passive solar. Its basic premise is to use an area of a south-facing wall to put windows to allow for a limited amount of passive heating into the house.
An architect who specializes in 'green building' can help design the system that best fits your needs, your lot and your style. A professional will also know which windows to specify for the design to avoid over heating and to maximize the desired energy performance.
There are many different types of windows out there made to fit various circumstances. For instance, certain glazings and coatings will allow the most heat gain and minimize the heat lost at night. But the discussion of the different types of windows is a whole article on to itself. We'll save that for another issue. In the meantime a professional green design consultant can help you with that.
So go enjoy the brilliant summer sun and fun summer season. Remember to "let the sun shine in" to make your "Life and Home Better".
Lisa Alexander
Certified EcoBroker®
Licensed Realtor NAR®
Green Building and Sustainable Living Consultant
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