THE PASSIVE SOLAR HOME

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"People kept stopping by the house during construction," Priscilla added. "...saying how much sense a solar house makes, yet we look around and ours is the only one in the neighborhood. I always feel silly telling those people that we only burn a quarter cord of wood each year, but in fact, we don't even burn that much."

Johnny Weiss and Laurie Stone teach solar home design at Solar Energy International in Carbondale, CO.

Energy-Efficient Solar Design Checklist

COLLECTION
• Is there unobstructed southern exposure?
• Is the long face of the home oriented to within 15° of true south?
• Have you sized the south-facing window area to optimize your design?
• Are the windows property shaded to protect from overheating?

STORAGE
• Have you properly sized and located thermal mass?
• Is your thermal mass practical and low maintenance? DISTRIBUTION
• Does the plan encourage the natural distribution of warm and cool air year-round?
• Have you planned for controlled mechanical ventilation when it is required?
• Are nonliving spaces such as garages and closets, located in nonsolar areas? RETENTION
• Are you taking extra care to reduce random air leakage?
• Are you optimizing insulation?
• Are you using the most efficient windows you can afford?
• Are you using different window types for different applications (heat-rejecting glazing on west windows, high R-value glazing on north windows, etc.)?

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
• Does your design maximize the use of natural daylight?
• Have you downsized the mechanical heating and cooling systems as much as possible?
• Have you considered using a solar water heater?
• Are you using energy-efficient lights and appliances?
• Have you considered generating electricity with photovoltaic solar modules or a wind turbine?

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