Passive solar architecture is a design strategy that optimizes a building’s energy efficiency and long-term sustainability. By relying on a building site’s solar orientation and climate ...

Passive solar energy is based on one element, the sun. Once the sun’s radiation hits Earth’s surface, the rays can either be absorbed, reflected, and/or transmitted.

Main elements of passive solar architecture. Commonly accepted passive solar home design principles say that you should orient a house in a way that allows it to collect heat from the sun and then ...

Passive solar technology came into use when early builders noticed that dense building materials, such as stone and brick, remained warm for hours after being heated by the sun.

Building a passive solar home was only a little more expensive at the start, but she said it was well worth it. “It’s just my house now,” she said. “It’s just where I live.

In the U.S., passive solar heating is incorporated into building designs across the country, though it’s far more common in areas with heavy sun exposure, such as the Southwest and coastal regions.

Building a new passive solar home only adds up to 3% to 5% of the construction cost. In the United States, 1.4 million new homes are built every year, so there is always a large potential market ...

David Bainbridge, founder of the Passive Solar Institute, recently sent us his book Passive Solar Architecture. The book is a great introduction for anyone interested in passive solar architecture.

Passive solar design is nothing new — it has probably been around as long as people have been building houses — and it has nothing to do with solar panels. It’s all about creating a ...

Even diehard Instagrammers admit it: Sometimes the best design is in what you don’t see. Such is the case with passive solar design, an approach to building that—in a nutshell—uses a house’s site, ...

A passive solar house is typically designed from scratch factoring in several considerations to boost the structure’s ability to naturally keep the interior living spaces a comfortable air ...