Passive Solar

Design

Passive solar has been

used for thousands of years
Southwest United States

Adobe solar architecture

Passive Solar Design

Passive solar heating is defined as using solar energy
striking windows, skylights, greenhouses, clerestories,
and mass walls in order to provide heating for a
house.
Generally, such solar collection occurs passively,
without the extensive use of pumps or fans typically
used in active solar collector systems.
Because heating is needed only over the colder part of
the year (Sept. to May), passive solar design must
also eliminate unwanted solar heat gains during the
summer.
The use of techniques to eliminate solar gains and to
cool a house with the use of active systems is often
referred to as passive cooling

1. Conservation Levels: Higher than normal levels of insulation and

airtightness
2. Distribution of Solar Glazing: distributed throughout the building
proportional to the heat loss of each zone
3. Orientation: Optimum within 5 degrees of true south
4. Glazing Tilt: Looking for perpendicular to sun angle in winter,
although vertical efficient where lots of reflective snow cover
5. Number of glazing layers: 3 to 4 for severe climates, less otherwise
6. Night insulation and Low-E glazing: Greatly improves reduction of
night heat losses
7. Mixing passive systems can increase comfort levels.

Types of Passive Systems

Direct Gain
Trombe Wall or Mass Wall
Sunspace or Greenhouse
Roof Systems

Direct Gain Systems

Sunlight incident on transparent surfaces
allows the energy to enter the living space
directly and is called Direct Gain.
South facing windows thus form the basis
for the simplest type of solar heating
system.
With some simple guidelines, this design is
the cheapest and best way to incorporate
solar into a house.

Direct Gain Passive Solar Design

Surfaces should be generally facing
south (to within 20 degrees)
Overhangs should prevent unwanted
summer gains (2 ft typical at 40
degrees latitude)
Window area should be 8-12% of the
house floor area if no extra thermal
mass is added
This amount of passive solar gain
should provide no more than 40-50%
of the yearly heating load
More area may be possible if
additional thermal mass is added.

PRECAUTIONS
Excess window
area can result in
a loss of privacy,
too much glare,
underheating and
overheating
Movable
insulation should
be designed to be
easy to install and
use

A Simple Direct Gain

System

1. Mass Distribution: spread it around evenly; 6 times glazing area

(3X minimum)
2. Mass Thickness: thin and spread out better than thick. More than
4 for masonry or concrete not useful
3. Colour: Floors dark to absorb more heat, walls and ceilings lighter
to reflect light.
4. Surface Covering: insulative coverings (ie. Rugs) greatly decrease
performance of thermal mass

5. Concrete Block Masonry: If used, a high density with cores filled

with grout

6. Floor Materials: Concrete or brick preferred. If insulating under, at

least 4 thick (100mm). More than 6 (150mm) not useful.

7. Limits on Direct Gain Glazing Area: South facing glazing limited to

prevent large temperature swings. 7% of floor area for low mass
buildings, 13% of floor area for high mass buildings.
8. Glazing orientation: Vertical facing due south preferred. Vertical
easiest to build, and easiest to shade in summer. Performance
penalty for 15degrees off due south is 10% and for 30 degrees is
20% loss; so within 15 degrees recommended.

9. Night insulation: Really helpful but can be very costly.

10. Thermal Insulation: Insulation located OUTSIDE the thermal mass.

Good design is based on combining

several elements and ideas

Knowledge of seasonal changes in sun

path
Landscaping in the site plan
Overhangs
Appropriate use of thermal mass
Energy efficient design for the thermal
envelope

The Suns Seasonal Path

This path is hemisphere and latitude dependent

40 Degree Latitude Sun Chart

showing altitude and azimuth angles for different

months of the year and times of the day

Site Plan

Dont shade the south, except for overhangs, but

do shade the east and west sides. Decks,
porches and carports also may be used to shade.

Overhangs on the South

Side

Thermal Mass

provided by normal drywall and furnishings and

also by slabs, mass walls, fireplaces, etc.

Clerestory is also direct gain

Excellent for
bringing
daylighting to
northern spaces
(deep houses)
Can use north
wall masonry
heat storage
Overhang over
clerestory
window shades
in summer

Example of Clerestory
House

Thermal Storage Walls or

Trombe Walls
Advantages:

Precautions:

Eliminates glare
Lowers temperature
swings in room
Vents allow partition of
energy into daytime and
nighttime heating
Sun hits entire mass

More expensive and less

efficient than direct gain
More difficult to reduce
nighttime losses
Best for sunnier climates
Occupies valuable space
in building

Trombe Wall with Vents

Operation of Trombe Wall

Sunlight hits the darkened mass wall and absorbed heat
moves slowly across the wall
The inside surface temperature peaks 6-8 hours after the
midday outside surface peak
Operational vents allow optional controlled air circulation
into the space during the day
Overhang reduces wall sun exposure during the warmer
months
Vent added to outside at the top can drive warm air out in
the summer and bring cooler air from a north vent
can be used as part of a south-facing greenhouse
may be retrofitted to existing houses with brick or stone
construction

SUNSPACE CONCEPT
with mass wall added

Sunspace -- a passive solar heating system type consisting of

a glassed-in room like a greenhouse, atrium or conservatory,
located on the south side of a building and separated from
other building spaces by a common wall.
Common Wall -- a wall separating a sunspace from other
living spaces.
Greenhouse -- a sunspace used primarily for growing plants
Projected Glazing Area -- net glazing projected onto a single
vertical wall.

Attached Greenhouses or
Sunspaces
Advantages:
Lower temperature
swings in adjacent living
space
Flexible can be
operated in many modes
Provides additional living
or growing space
Works well in late winter
and spring when
standard overhangs
block direct gain through
windows

Precautions:
Price moderate to high
Thermal performance
depends greatly on how
it is operated

1. Effect of orientation: optimum due south. Penalties about 5% for 30degrees

off due south. More summer overheating for off south directions.

2. Use of Mass: increases spaces livability. Reduces overheating. Optimum

thickness for masonry walls between 8 and 12.
3. Area of Mass: direct gain rules apply: 3mass to 1glazing.

4. Do not glaze end walls: for both summer and winter performance.
5. Summer Venting: needs to be vented during summer especially if not well
shaded.
6. Wall Colour: Direct gain rules apply, except:
a. use darker colours in general as light colours tend to reflect light and
heat out of the space
b. if used as a green house, surfaces in corners need to be light to
improve plant performance/life.

7. Sunspace width: 15 to 20 feet works well.

8. Colour: dark colours work better to absorb heat.
9. Plants and other lightweight objects: Limit.

10. Roof: Need to be able to shade it in the summer to avoid overheating.

Curtain, awnings or internal shades, OK.
11. Common Wall: Needs to be able to be closed off from main living space
to avoid overheating. Preferably masonry (like trombe wall).
12. Common wall vents: required as one of the ways heat is transferred to
the living space.
a. doorways, 15% of glazing area
b. window openings, 20% of glazing area
c. high and low vent pairs, 10% of glazing area

Solar Greenhouse with

thermal mass in the floor
and in water barrels

Thermal Storage Roofs

Advantages:

Precautions:

Provides both heating

and cooling
Provides low
temperature swing in the
building
Can provide 100% of
heating and cooling in
milder climates

Structural support for

heavy mass expensive
Most easily used in 1
story buildings
Typically 50% size of
floor area
Least acceptable design
in earthquake prone
areas

Thermal Roof Concept

Passive Solar Design Style

The effectiveness of solar heating does not
depend on the style (Cape Cod, Colonial,
modern, contemporary) of house that you
design.
Houses may be small and simple, or
spectacular; the solar concept being
applied is the same.
Of course, the smaller the house, the less
resources and cost will be needed to build
and maintain it.

High Mass Adobe House

Earthship

Earthship

Earthship

Earthship
http://earthship.com/

Direct Gain Solar House

High Mass Desert House

Adobe Sunspace High

Mass House

Clerestory Direct Gain

House

Point House in California

Coast

Direct Gain Solar House