Go Solar and Save Big!
(Page 5 of 6)
August/September 2006
By Clarke Snell
Once built, passive solar buildings are cheaper to operate, so they will save you money — and lots of it — over the life of the building. “It’s relatively easy in most climates to create a passive solar building that will use 30 percent to 70 percent less energy than a comparable nonsolar design,” Judkoff says.
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Attractive home designs. A common misconception about passive solar homes is that they are designed like space-aged cubicles. Older books on passive solar homes are full of wild, complex designs, including such things as retractable exterior walls and roof pond storage masses with movable nighttime covers. Forget that stuff! Passive solar homes can be designed to fit almost any style or aesthetic.
“Far from being limiting, passive solar design gives you a wealth of building elements to work with,” says Greg Jackson, an architect and adjunct professor of sustainable design at the University of Kentucky. “Overhangs, roof articulation and a focus on the relationship between sunlight and glass all add visual interest to a building.”
Buildings can be retrofitted. You don’t need to have the perfect site or the opportunity to build a new home to take advantage of passive solar design, because you can make meaningful adjustments to an existing building. Any of the following can have significant effects on the thermal performance of your house: Major work such as a complete solar retrofit; intermediate actions such as adding windows and an interior mass wall facing the winter sun; or simple do-it-yourself changes such as adding arbors with deciduous vines over windows and doors.
“Passive solar additions to existing buildings bring an excellent return on your initial investment,” says builder and educator Marcus Renner of Appropriate Building Solutions. “A well-designed sunspace addition, for example, will cut energy bills by providing both solar heat and illumination. It will also create a cozy room that increases floor space and provides a great environment for plants. As if that weren’t enough, all of these features add value to your house.”
The bottom line. As heating and cooling costs rise and the scramble for dwindling fossil fuels escalates, it’s time to tap the elegant, common-sense principles of passive solar. As corny as it may sound, we really can build a better world. The sun is shining down on us with the answer; all we have to do is soak it up.
Solar Design for Cold Climates
These solar design strategies can be effective in a climate with cold winters and moderate summers. The greatest need here is winter heating, and the building will be oriented to the south.
- Choose a building site with no obstructions to the south for complete access to the low angle of the winter sun. Another plus is a site with trees that can block prevailing winter winds, which are usually from the north.
- Chose a design with a long south wall facing within 15 degrees of true south.
- The house should include ample thermal mass (dense, heat-storing materials such as concrete or earthen floors). Consider building an earth berm on the north side for more thermal mass.
- Most of the windows should be to the south for access to the winter sun. Minimize windows on the east and west sides and place very few in north walls.
- Use shorter overhangs over south windows for better winter heat gain and ample overhangs over other windows for shading.
- Cover windows and glass doors at night with insulating shutters or insulated drapes to prevent heat loss.
- Maximize insulation in walls and ceiling. Use rigid insulation under the floor and around its edges.
- Consider using a dark roof surface to pick up solar gain in winter.
- Mechanical ventilation will probably be needed in winter; a heat recovery ventilator, which preheats incoming air, is a good option.
- Consider a porch or plantings to the west to block afternoon sun in summer.
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