![]() During the other parts of the day, some of the lawn is hit directly, but most of it is covered in a filtered light due to the tall trees that provide cover from the sun. While sunlight exists in earlier and later parts of the day, during those hours the sun hits the lawn directly. We’d love to help you!īut if you’re doing this on your own, here’s the advice we would give you: To effectively design a house to respond to the sun, start with the big overall passive design strategies first and then work your way down to the smaller ones.The primary solar window for the lawn is from about 9:30 a.m. If you’d like help in incorporating passive design strategies on your project or want us to review your current project, please contact us. We’ve learned to take a whole system’s approach to design so that the final result is cohesive, functional, and beautiful. We have experience in creating homes that not only respond to the sun but that look elegant and timeless–where the passive design strategies often go unnoticed. This is where architects and designers can add a lot of value to your project. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to designing a house to respond to the sun. Every design decision has ripple effects and lasting impacts. Locating certain less frequent rooms on the north face can open up views and sunlight to the south great for passive solar design if shaded properly. ![]() The building shape and room configurations affect how much light and heat can penetrate the house as well as which rooms will receive the most sunlight and heat gain. Once you get the big design moves figured out, the smaller essential considerations become a little easier to manage and account for. Starting early and being intentional in the big overall design moves (such as how you locate, size, and orient your spaces) will go a long way in making it easier to design a house to respond to the sun. It involves all aspects of building design from site design to building design to building construction. You have to think holistically about the entire design. You can not simply focus on one aspect of your design (like sunshading) and think you’ve nailed it. It requires a whole system approach and starts with good project goals and a cohesive design concept. Passive Solar Design Is a Holistic Approach So how do you use orientation in the design of your home?ĭesigning a house to respond to the sun requires mindfulness and intentionality from beginning to end. ![]() Store: A thermal mass absorbs, stores, and distributes heat at a delayed rate to help regulate and control room temperature.ĭistribute: Through radiation, convection, and conduction heat is distributed through the house.Ĭontrol: Light shelves, insulation, overhangs, and vegetation all help control by bouncing, blocking, filtering, and regulating the amount of heat and light that enter a space. To further demonstrate how various building components contribute to passive solar design, here are a few quick examples.Ĭollect: A space collects heat/light when solar energy passes through window glazing. Passive solar design works in three ways: This passive approach means that through the basic elements of the house–its walls, windows, floors, and roof–and through its relationship with the surrounding site, the house is able to inherently respond and optimize solar energy, whereby increasing the energy efficiency of your home, making it more comfortable to live in, and being cheaper to run. Passive solar design is about collecting, storing, distributing, and/or controlling solar energy (both heat and light) so that you can reduce your demand on fossil fuels. It’s a passive approach, meaning it’s low-tech and does not rely on mechanical devices or operations to function, unlike active HVAC systems that use fans, pumps, and electrical components. This is what passive solar design is all about: Designing your house to do as much as it can to heat and cool your house on its own. What you’re trying to do is regulate the temperature inside and out of your home naturally so that you can become less reliant on mechanical and electrical systems. ![]() Now, you can design a home that will let the sun in when you want it to come in (in the winter) and keep it out when you want to keep it out (in the summer). You know the orientation of your site and where the sun will be at any given time.
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