passive solar, definition of

Hydronic flooring heating is where a network of water carrying pipes are embedded into the floor to transfer heat from a heat source (say solar hot water) to the floor - thereby providing a comfortable living environment. The only downside with such systems is that they depend upon the Sun to provide the warmth, this is often out of cycle with the demand for heat - i.e. you need to be warm in the evening and during cloudy days. Thermal mass can help phase shift the heating but you will often require additional back up heating as well.

This is often something which can only be done on a new build as you need to build the pipes into the structure of the floor. An option after build is to use a roof space heat recovery system to transfer the hot air from the roof into the living space by way of a filter and fan set up. The advantage with this is that such a system can also provide cooling air in Winter (as the roof space cools quicker than the living space below at night).

• What is Passive Solar?
  Passive solar building design is explained and how passive solar principals are used to design green homes and buildings, and save you money.
• Green Home Building and Ecology in Australia
  Info and sites that help with building a sustainable and green home in Australia and useful government agencies to be aware of. Also advice on dealing with architects and builders.

• Passive Solar Design advice
  Passive Solar design can be applied to existing buildings as well as new buildings. We explain some useful techniques and give links to useful resources.
• solar power efficiency
  What are the factors that are important in efficiently harvesting solar power - we look at what they are..
• Special Interest Groups
  To make it easier to find information on certain important topics we have made a set of SIG's (Special Interest Groups)...
• New Rainwater harvesting calculator
  This new calculator allows you to work out the practical tank size given average per month rainfall, your roof area and expected monthly water usage.
• More Efficient Solar Cells with Selenium
  Researchers have discovered that just adding a minuscule quantity of 9% selenium with zinc oxide base radically improved the sun light absorbing efficiency of the material...
• Climate Change Policy in Australia
  With an election just around the corner the politically sensitive issue of how Labour is to deal with Climate Change has been presented as policy today.
• GE Ecomagination Challenge $200m for good ideas
  GE Ecomagination contest hopes to gather ideas for improving electrical grid technology.
• Call for tighter review of IPCC data
  Prof Jean Palutikof, who spent 5 years at the British Met Office preparing the UN report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, admitted the existing system was flawed because "quite a lot" of information had not been peer-reviewed by independent scientists before publication.
• IPCC conclusions fail under legal cross examination
  A cross examination of global warming science conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Law and Economics has concluded that virtually every claim advanced by global warming proponents fails to stand up to scrutiny.
• new low cost solar cell tech - dye films
  solar dye film cells will be available at a projected price of 3p per kw/h, a tenth of silicon cells.
• Give Curry to sheep and save the planet
  Strange but true, feeding sheep curry could save the planet...
• Solar companies receive $2 billion
  Two solar companies have been awarded nearly $2 billion in Recovery Act funding for solar projects in three states.
• New Square LED's more light directional
  A new LED fabrication technique produces squares of LED's that are more directional.
• Best Solar Panels for home
  We look at what are the best solar panels for home use
• Climatic Modelling - the problems with getting it right
  Climatic Models are being used more and more to demonstrate human induced climate change is happening; we look at the problems with this.
• Passive Solar
  Passive Solar is often banded around as a good thing to do to make your house more green; we look at it in more detail.

• Passive Solar Design Eaves Calculator
  Works out the ideal Eave depth for a given height of window and world location; so the Sun comes in in Winter but not Summer, maximizing the passive solar effect.

Related Tags: passive solar, architecture, green building

• Passive Solar Design advice
  Passive Solar design can be applied to existing buildings as well as new buildings. We explain some useful techniques and give links to useful resources.
• solar power efficiency
  What are the factors that are important in efficiently harvesting solar power - we look at what they are..
• Special Interest Groups
  To make it easier to find information on certain important topics we have made a set of SIG's (Special Interest Groups)...
• New Rainwater harvesting calculator
  This new calculator allows you to work out the practical tank size given average per month rainfall, your roof area and expected monthly water usage.
• More Efficient Solar Cells with Selenium
  Researchers have discovered that just adding a minuscule quantity of 9% selenium with zinc oxide base radically improved the sun light absorbing efficiency of the material...
• Climate Change Policy in Australia
  With an election just around the corner the politically sensitive issue of how Labour is to deal with Climate Change has been presented as policy today.
• GE Ecomagination Challenge $200m for good ideas
  GE Ecomagination contest hopes to gather ideas for improving electrical grid technology.
• Call for tighter review of IPCC data
  Prof Jean Palutikof, who spent 5 years at the British Met Office preparing the UN report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, admitted the existing system was flawed because "quite a lot" of information had not been peer-reviewed by independent scientists before publication.
• IPCC conclusions fail under legal cross examination
  A cross examination of global warming science conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Law and Economics has concluded that virtually every claim advanced by global warming proponents fails to stand up to scrutiny.
• new low cost solar cell tech - dye films
  solar dye film cells will be available at a projected price of 3p per kw/h, a tenth of silicon cells.
• Give Curry to sheep and save the planet
  Strange but true, feeding sheep curry could save the planet...
• Solar companies receive $2 billion
  Two solar companies have been awarded nearly $2 billion in Recovery Act funding for solar projects in three states.
• New Square LED's more light directional
  A new LED fabrication technique produces squares of LED's that are more directional.
• Best Solar Panels for home
  We look at what are the best solar panels for home use
• Climatic Modelling - the problems with getting it right
  Climatic Models are being used more and more to demonstrate human induced climate change is happening; we look at the problems with this.

• Passive Solar Design Eaves Calculator
  Works out the ideal Eave depth for a given height of window and world location; so the Sun comes in in Winter but not Summer, maximizing the passive solar effect.

• These bioclimatic student dorms use low-cost, sustainable materials
  In the tropical Vietnamese province of Dong Nai, Southeast Asian architecture firm T3 Architects has completed the Hippo Farm Bioclimatic Dormitories, a cost-effective housing structure that uses locally sourced materials and bioclimatic design...
• Central Park to undergo $150M LEED Gold-targeted redesign
  To cap the Central Park Conservancy’s 40-year renewal of Central Park, the nonprofit has unveiled designs to update the park’s north end with a LEED Gold-targeted recreational facility, a new pool, skating rink and other amenities...
• A 1940s cottage is transformed into a solar-powered Hanok-inspired home
  Portland-based collaborative design practice Woofter Architecture has recently completed the expansion and renovation of a 1940s cottage in Portland, Oregon...
• Near net-zero energy Helsinki Central Library boasts an award-winning, prefab design
  Helsinki has entered a “new era of libraries” with the completion of Oodi, the Helsinki Central Library that not only serves as a new central point for the city’s public library network but also an award-winning public space with a movie theater,...
• MADs ethereal Yiwu Grand Theater will float on Zhejiang waters
  Beijing-based architectural firm MAD Architects has won a competition for Zhejiang’s Yiwu Grand Theater with a proposal that’s stunning, sculptural and site-specific...
• Anderson Architecture revamps a dim heritage home into a modern sun-soaked abode
  When Sydney-based design studio Anderson Architecture was asked to improve the livability of an old heritage home in the inner western Sydney suburb of Lewisham, the house suffered from a cold and dark indoor environment...
• Modern, self-sustaining home blends into a rocky landscape
  Zagreb-based architectural office PROARH completed Issa Megaron, a family retreat in Croatia that’s disguised inside a rocky hillside with a zigzagging road...
• This breezy, green-roofed home in Singapore embraces nature from all angles
  Whereas many modern buildings in Singapore rebel against the country’s tropical climate with air-conditioned, hermetic spaces, international architecture firm Guz Architects decided instead to embrace the natural environment in its design of the Willow...
• This beautiful Washington cabin meets net-zero targets even in extreme temperatures
  Nestled in a historic mining area in Washington State’s Cascade Mountains, a holiday retreat offers luxurious comfort without compromising sustainability targets...

Related Tags: passive solar, green building, thermal mass, solar homes

Passive Solar Energy is the energy captured by a building from the Sun and used to either heat or cool a building.

• ODA designs an urban experiment masterplan for Chengdu
  On the invitation of the Chengdu government, New York-based architecture firm ODA has created a visionary new masterplan for the southwestern Chinese city. Spanning 1 million square feet, the proposal would include four 13-story residential towers integrated...
• Sculptural Haus B uses passive solar principles to surpass Germanys energy standards
  Completed over the span of four years, Haus B is a passive solar home that is a contemporary departure from the housing norm of the 1960s suburban neighborhood in which it resides...

Related Tags: passive solar

• C.F. Moller’s Saeby Strand Apartments Win Award for Outstanding Social Housing Development
  C.F. Møller's Sæby Strand offers a wide range of apartments that feature natural materials, great accessibility and solar panels mounted on their roofs. Each of the volumes provides optimal views of the Kattegat seaside and provides light to every single
• Eco-Friendly Tinbeerwah House Rises on Steel Stilts in the Australian Bush
  Though the Tinbeerwah House may be small in size, the three-bedroom abode more than makes up for it with its beautiful natural environment rich with the sounds of Kookaburras and the nearby creek...
• Leadenhall Building: London’s 224-Meter-Tall “Cheesegrater” Tower Reaches Full Height
  Half of the curtain walling of “the cheesegrater” tower is now complete, with 51% of the structure already pre-leased to companies Aon and Amlin. The Leadenhall Building is owned by British Land and Oxford Properties and is the first UK project for...
• Team ABC’s Green-Roofed Sumbiosi Solar Decathlon House is a Low-Impact Bioclimatic Dwelling
  Read the rest of Team ABC’s Green-Roofed Sumbiosi Solar Decathlon House is a Low-Impact Bioclimatic Dwelling Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Aquitaine Bordeaux Campus, Bioclimatic Architecture, Daylighting, eco design,...
• House Ocho Is a Green Roof Mountain Retreat Tucked Away in Carmel, California
  Built into the side of a hill, the House Ocho in Carmel, California is a sustainable house offering breathtaking views. Designed by Feldman Architecture, a lush green roof was built on the top with the assistance of Paul Kephart, who was the mastermind...
• Modern Biophilic Sunroom Heats a 19th Century-Pittsburgh House
  This nifty greenhouse and sun room sits atop a 19th century row house in the South Side Flats of Downtown Pittsburgh. While the sawtooth roof may look contemporary. studio d’ARC actually borrowed the profile from the building’s original greenhouse...
• Water Pumping Mill Transformed Into Self-Sustaining Residence
  Read the rest of Water Pumping Mill Transformed Into Self-Sustaining Residencehttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed Permalink | Add to del.icio.us...

Related Tags: passive solar, thermal mass