Passive solar design begins with the simple idea that you can build a house that uses natural heating, cooling, ventilation and daylighting. These homes require much less fossil fuel energy to heat and cool than conventional homes do, which is better for the environment and saves passive solar homeowners money. Passive solar homes are comfortable to live in because they are designed to radiate heat in winter, maintain a comfortable year-round temperature, ventilate naturally, and let in plenty of natural light.
I became interested in sustainable design, specifically passive solar design, as a young architect — first while working in the Peace Corps in Africa, and later while working professionally in New Mexico. The details of any particular passive solar home design depend on the climate and the specifics of the site. Over the course of my 35-year career, I’ve designed a variety of passive solar houses throughout the country using different configurations of south-facing windows, sunrooms and other passive solar design features. (For specifics on one of them, read “The Western Solar Farmhouse: A Passive Solar Design” near the end of the article) What follows are the principles used to design any passive solar home.
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Green Real Estate Appraiser 