The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling

by Daniel D. Chiras

Passive solar heating and passive cooling—approaches known as natural conditioning—provide comfort throughout the year by reducing, or eliminating, the need for fossil fuel. Yet while heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved. Now Dan Chiras, author of the popular book The Natural House, brings those principles up to date for a new generation of solar enthusiasts. The techniques required to heat and cool a building passively have been used for thousands of years. Early societies such as the Native American Anasazis and the ancient Greeks perfected designs that effectively exploited these natural processes. The Greeks considered anyone who didn't use passive solar to heat a home to be a barbarian! In the United States, passive solar architecture experienced a major resurgence of interest in the 1970s in response to crippling oil embargoes. With grand enthusiasm but with scant knowledge (and sometimes little common sense), architects and builders created a wide variety of solar homes. Some worked pretty well, but looked more like laboratories than houses. Others performed poorly, overheating in the summer because of excessive or misplaced windows and skylights, and growing chilly in the colder months because of insufficient thermal mass and insulation and poor siting. In The Solar House, Dan Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious—and entirely avoidable—errors. More importantly, Chiras explains in methodical detail how today's home builders can succeed with solar designs. Now that energy efficiency measures including higher levels of insulation and multi-layered glazing have become standard, it is easier than ever before to create a comfortable and affordable passive solar house that will provide year-round comfort in any climate. Moreover, since modern building materials and airtight construction methods sometimes result in air-quality and even toxicity problems, Chiras explains state-of-the-art ventilation and filtering techniques that complement the ancient solar strategies of thermal mass and daylighting. Chiras also explains the new diagnostic aids available in printed worksheet or software formats, allowing readers to generate their own design schemes.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Construction, Sustainability, Green, How To

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Dan has spent much of the past 30 years studying sustainability and applying what he has learned in solar energy, natural building, and green building to his residences, and most of the last ten plus years sharing the practical knowledge he has gained through writing, lectures, slide shows, and workshops.
Dan Chiras paid his last electric bill in June of 1996. It is not that he has disavowed the use of electricity and modern conveniences, but rather that he has turned to the sun and wind to meet his family's needs.

Reviews

[Chadwick Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good informative read on important considerations of building responsibly in our ever shrinking world and the ever increasing demands we place upon it. The argument presented throughout the book is compelling to influence any that building to capitalize on the most abundant, and perhaps least harnessed energy source available (the sun) who’s energy is virtually free if we but build with forethought and intelligent design.

What I did not expect was the added interest in building with clean and responsibly sourced materials. I hope to build with such purposeful thought and this book has given clear direction on how to do so.

The book and its references are out dated (the problem of citing on-line resources). But even without such references there is a lot to learn and implement in a build if desired.

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly readable reference book on designing passively heated and cooled homes. I learned a lot; the information was laid out in a straightforward manner and avoids a patronizing tone. This is mostly useful to people with a construction project in their near future, but it will be somewhat helpful for choosing from set of potential apartments, too. For some reason, I loved reading about backup heating systems. Not only did I get to learn about masonry stoves (the coziest form of heater), but I also now have a non-hearsay point of comparison when it comes to how expensive an apartment might be to heat.

The chapter with extensive reviews on late-1990s DOS and Windows software for analyzing home efficiency had some truly endearing screenshots.

More reviews on my StoryGraph page.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and some very useful information. It needs updated, and could use more examples of floorplans from different climes. I'm glad I bought it, and you should read it too, just don't expect one book to give you all you need.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never finished this but quite enjoyed learning concepts it presented!

[Ringgo · Rating 4 out of 5]

As can be surmised from the title, this book explains the features of a solar house in detail. Although it may look like the book only discusses the “solar” aspect, it is actually about all things sustainable in a passive house, maximising its energy efficiency and minimising its ecological footprint. Four most important strategies in building a passive house, as described in the book, comprise passive heating, passive cooling, day-lighting, and natural ventilation. All of them are oftentimes interrelated.

Designing a passive house starts from choosing the site with good solar exposure. For houses in the northern hemisphere, it is best to locate most windows on the south side. Providing overhangs and shading is critical to regulate solar gain. To protect the houses from winds and storms, landscaping and earth-sheltering are good ideas to begin with.

In passive heating and cooling, the height of the ceiling, the positioning of the windows, and the availability of sunspaces play a key role. The optimisation of wood stoves and chimney are sometimes important as well. Specifically on passive cooling, the colour of the walls and the roofs, the use of earthen floors, and the presence of indoor plants can be influential.

Since the sun becomes the primary day-light source for the house, the way it is managed is closely related to the passive heating. Here, the windows grow more important as they become the main control tools. They even become more important when it comes to the privacy of the household.

Ventilation is about allowing fresh air to enter and move around the house. In addition to the window design, issues concerning indoor air pollution that comes from hair spray, disinfectants, carpeting, combustion appliances, pets, and people themselves are also worth noting. It is worth noting that other topics regarding radon gas, formaldehyde, and VOC paints are necessary to address.

Albeit boring, this book thoroughly explains the aforementioned things. The technicalities it provides are so exhaustive it lists worksheets and computer software to analyse energy performance. Even someone without educational and professional background in architecture like me really appreciates it.

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My favourite words and phrases from the book:
1. Detriment
2. Unfettered
3. Byword
4. Adobe
5. Sheathing
6. Egregious
7. Sawtooth
8. Clerestory
9. Cantilevered
10. Outgassing
11. Leaky
12. Mildew

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book i can't understand why houses aren't designed to take advantage of passive solar. Even in the cold northeast buildings can be designed to provide most of the heating during the winter. Designed to provide cooling in the summer. Designed with little to no maintenance requirements. All of these things, and for little to no additional cost.

For America is to reduce its production of CO2, passive solar design is critical. Even if you aren't planning to build a house, read this book so that you can share the information with others.

This book is written in easy to understand language yet conveys ideas well. The book provides an overview of passive solar design in an easily digestible and well formatted way. The author is a bit repetative at times, which serves to drive home some key points. I highly recommend this book.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family first got interested in passive solar houses through an article in our local newspaper about a woman who had built one. After visiting her house during an open house, we began researching the building of passive solar houses. In that quest, I bought and read this book.

It has very complete information on various construction methods and equipment that help create a passive solar house. We used this book a lot when designing our passive (and active) solar house (which is now complete). I then loaned this book to a relative who was modifying a house to use passive solar. He also found it very useful.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book.

[Ebteckar.com]

يتناول الكتاب التسخين الشمسي السلبي والتبريد السلبي هو النهج المعروف باسم التكييف الطبيعي والذي توفره الطبيعية على مدار العام عن طريق خفض أو زيادة الوقود الأحفوري، من خلال استغلال الطاقة الحرارية من أشعة الشمس، وقد تم استخدام التقنيات اللازمة للتسخين والتبريد بشكل سلبي للمباني منذ آلاف السنين، وقد أعطى مؤلف الكتاب المبادئ الأساسية للمهندسين عشاق الطاقة الشمسية، ويشير الكتاب إلى أن هناك مجتمعات عرفت هذه المبادئ في وقت مبكر مثل الأمريكيين الأصليين والإغريق والذين صمموا المباني التي تستغل هذه العمليات بشكل فعال في الطبيعية.

للمزيد:
http://www.ebteckar.com/index.php?opt...

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was recently asked "If you could recommend only one book on green building, what would it be?" This was an absolutely awful question, since I don't believe that any one book can suffice. My final answer was this book.

The reason why is that this book focuses on the very fundamentals of a building as a user and storer of energy. I believe that this provides the most solid basis for going green in construction. You can add nuance and go beyond the fundamentals, but your biggest impacts are explored in this book.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so proud of myself for finishing this book! I would have given it a five for being a highly influential book on my life, but the design chapter disappointed me. It was much to technical for the lay reader. I would have preferred advice on how to choose a house layout. Otherwise, an excellent tutorial on the basics of passive solar and energy efficiency.

[Marjori Ollson · Rating 1 out of 5]

...Uh, well, ah,...wanted to read this for a long time. Finally get a copy as a textbook and, well, let's just say 'disappointing'....Class is unanonymous, as well as college prof.....Bummer, there are much better books out there.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a great job explaining the basic concepts of passive solar design. It's a great place to start if you are interested in smart home design.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simple is best, and while this book was better than some I've gotten about solar, it wasn't diagram or photo heavy enough to inform me.

[Fakher Ȝalakher]

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