A passive solar designed home takes the maximum advantage of the natural heating of the sun's energy called insolation. Orienting the solar home to both the arc of the sun and the demands of the site are of primary importance for both efficiency and beauty in considering the placement of your home.

Careful planning, orientation of the home, design, correct percentage glazing (so not to over heat) & thermal mass all contribute to a comfortable, energy efficient home.

Passive solar works anywhere the sun shines. In 1984 we built a super-insulated passive solar home in Anchorage Alaska which performed beautifully—had a back-up natural gas heating cost of $10/month!

Our Cottage Home in Durango Colorado was modest in size only 750 sq. ft. had about 10% fenestration for passive gain, in-floor heating, insulated concrete slab finished floor and cost us $20/month for all of our propane heating based on 2000 fuel prices, cooking, clothes drying require-ments. And the comfort level of a in floor radiant heat system must be lived with, in order to appreciate warm floors.

A Passive solar home use thermal mass (brick, stone, plasters, water, earth blocks...) within its insulated envelope to store the sun's radiated heat, this is called insolation. This is easily and beautifully incorporated in the floors and interior walls.

A traditional Active solar home uses thermal mass, )rock bin, concrete blocks) & fans to move the energy to the storage (thermal mass) and to move back to the rooms during night fall.

Another active solar system uses Solar Thermal Panels to pre-heat water for a variety of heating systems, specifically designed for your home criteria.


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Natural Solar Building

Plastered straw bale walls, cob, light straw clay, pressed earth block or adobe, stone, all are considered thermal mass systems. Conventional built homes can have mass added to the interior walls & floors, built -in furniture, one inexpensive way is to add two to three layers of drywall on the appropriate walls.

Definition: Thermal mass absorbs the sun's radiation and stores the energy to be released later. Thermo mass moderating the temperatures—creating warm winters, cool summers. This dramatically reduces heating and cooling costs.

Definition: A super insulated envelope, has more R-factor than a typical minimum UBC building code (30yr old code). The minimum 2x6 wall resistance value is R-19, the attic is R- 30.

For the last ten years we have been insulating to R-35 wall, R-55 attic in our straw homes. And insulated our conventional homes walls to R-30, & attic to R-55.

Comment: R-values are misleading, although a higher rating is often better, it's the resistance given by the fiberglass industry for the movement of heat to cold. It does not give a measurement of storing thermal heat in mass.

Active Hot Water Solar

This technology can be used throughout most of U.S.A., using solar panels to preheat & store hot water for domestic use. What makes it "active" is the movement and/or pumping of the solar-heated water. It is both ecological and can save money: usually a 40-50% reduction in fossil fuels burned. The investment return is usually 4 to 6 years, depending on the system cost & type of back-up water heating used.

Using the solar water panels for in-floor radiant heat is a logical choice in a cold climate and creates an enjoyably warm floor. Incorporating a back up boiler or heat pump is necessary for times when extended storms or cloud cover reduces the output of the panels. An efficient wood or pellet stove can also be used to assist an active solar in-floor heating system, reducing fossil fuel consumption and providing instantaneous heat for the spring and fall cold snaps.

The solar technology exists for building beautiful, earth-friendly, healthy homes that heat themselves 60-85% of the time and are built to last for generations so—your great-grandchildren can enjoy what you created.

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