Site & Space Planning/Design

By reducing the need for electric light, daylighting can substantially lower home energy use. However, excessive daylighting can increase both heating and cooling loads. A balanced approach to daylighting involves whole building design starting with the location and orientation of a home and continuing with proper room location and design, window sizing and placement, and selection of room finishes.

Passive solar design is the process of creating a home that provides both shelter and comfort year-round while responding to regional climate conditions and minimizing dependence on energy-consuming mechanical systems. The goal is to build and occupy a home that a) utilizes solar heat gain in the winter to warm the interior of a home, b) controls solar heat gain in the summer, and c) facilitates daylighting, natural ventilation, and nighttime cooling to keep a home comfortably cool in the summer.

Moving on from Passive Solar Design, Part 1, the interior of the home, surfaces and building materials must be carefully chosen and strategically placed to perform as absorbers and thermal mass storage of solar heat gain in winter and convective cooling breezes in summer. In addition, window coverings for preventing heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer are recommended. Finally, fans and controls for air distribution from one room to another can provide supplemental heating and cooling to the entire home.