What to look for in house plans solar optimized for your climate?
1. Orientation - this will provide passive heating and cooling benefits PLUS lifestyle benefits like a well lit glare free interior without the need for electrical lighting in the daytime. Different designs for different climates and ideally for different building sites.
2. Shading - notice that this is more important than passive solar heating. Even in colder climates (New England) a poorly designed glass box WILL overheat. The amount of shading needed will vary but look for overhangs on south (equator) facing glass and movable shading or deciduous trees on the east and west side of the home. Be very concerned about non-vertical glass anywhere in the core home. Angles glass tends to overheat spring/summer/fall.
3. Passive Solar Heating - Orient the majority of windows to the south (equator) which will restrict the heat gain from the high summer sun and maximize the heat gain from the low winter sun. Climates that have A/C demands for more than a couple of week should consider restricting glass on the east and west sides of the homes or providing LOTS of shade on the east and west side of the home that can be removed in the winter.
4. Thermal Mass - This is a battery in your home that will charge during the day storing heat in the winter and discharge in the summer at night reducing cooling demands in the summer. Think concrete, adobe, sheetrock, tile and water all of which can store a large amount of heat in your home. This thermal mass needs to be inside of the insulated envelope and ideally directly sunlit in the winter.
5. Glazing - This can be a somewhat confusing subject - the new Low-E glass windows that are finally becoming standard on homes are GREAT on the non-south facing windows but can be WORSE than the standard dual pane insulated glass windows on the south facing side as they will not let the heat from the sun enter the home in the winter. Make certain that your builder knows this and uses the specified windows on the south facing wall - if your architect or supplier of house plans solar optimized for your climate doesn’t appear to understand this please run away!
6. Insulation - Energy codes for insulating homes have finally caught up to the passive solar home - designing to current energy standards with careful sealing and detailing by your builder will result in a home that is able to obtain the majority of it’s heating from the sun. Super-insulating is a method to insure against future price rises in energy (over the current $4-$5 per gallon of heating oil) and I highly recommend it but is not required.
To build a home that obtains the majority of it’s heating and cooling from it’s design select or design house plans solar optimized for your climate. Remember simple, passive, and massive design elegance is the way to go!
Remember please watch out for the following signs of a BAD passive solar house plan:
1. Overglazing - more than 20% of the total exterior wall area of the home is glass.
2. Angled glass - it can be okay on a completely seperate room that you can close off with insulated doors from the rest of the home but in general this is a sign of a bad design that will overheat.
3. Orientation - Plan doesn’t say what direction needs to be south (facing the equator)!
| Published on August 24th, 2008 | | Posted by admin |
