In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it doesn't involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.
The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate. Elements to be considered include window placement and glazing type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading. Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but existing buildings can be adapted or "retrofitted".
Read more about Passive Solar Building Design: Passive Energy Gain, As A Science, The Solar Path in Passive Design, Passive Solar Thermodynamic Principles, Site Specific Considerations During Design, Design Elements For Residential Buildings in Temperate Climates, Efficiency and Economics of Passive Solar Heating, Key Passive Solar Building Design Concepts, Landscaping and Gardens, Comparison To The Passive House Standard in Europe, Design Tools
Famous quotes containing the words passive, solar, building and/or design:
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—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
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Hamar: They are solar boats for Pharaoh to use after his death. They’re the means by which Pharaoh will journey across the skies with the sun, with the god Horus. Each day they will sail from east to west, and each night Pharaoh will return to the east by the river which runs underneath the earth.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.”
—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)
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—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948)