It works exactly as it sounds, Alexander argues that every room should have light coming from at least two walls. This is one I'm concerned about given the PS constraints seem to directly conflict.
One idea that the commenter on a previous post introduced was an interior atrium idea. The light still comes in from the south, but rooms beside the atrium can have W/E windows facing the atrium. They would therefore have light coming from two walls, while not exposing the house to sunlight on external W/E walls.
Major downside I imagine would be cost (the atrium requires additional walls and might end up being ineffective living space). One more idea to added to the list of possibilities.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Basic Features
The features I'm looking for in order of importance
Must Haves:
Must Haves:
- Passive Solar
- Media Room (a room where light can be tightly controlled)
- Liberal use of daylighting
- Library
- Somewhere to store electronic equipment, preferably with some sound isolation and close to the media room.
- Workshop
Friday, February 1, 2008
Standards
Energy Start (good): http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_homes.nh_features
LEED (getter): http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=222
PassivHaus (best): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house
LEED (getter): http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=222
PassivHaus (best): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house
Passive Solar 001
The basic idea behind passive solar design is to maximize the efficiency of the sun in heating and cooling your home. It revolves around the idea that in summer the sun arcs higher through the sky than it does in winter. Making use of this fact, combined with tightly controlling how energy enters and exits your home, is what passive solar is all about.
1. A tight building envelope is crucial to insuring you have control of energy coming in and out. With well insulated walls and ceiling the vast majority of energy exiting and entering your home is going to come through the windows. This allows you to focus your efforts on controlling energy flow across your windows rather than across the entire surface of your house.
2. South facing glass is used to control how much sunlight and energy your house picks up. Glass on the other 3 walls should be minimized as the energy movement is harder to control. With south facing glass you maximize the amount of light entering your home (the sun arcs in the southern sky for people in the northern hemisphere). The classic PS design has a lot of south-facing glass and minimal glass elsewhere.
3. The windows should in turn have some sort of structure that shields them from the top. The purpose of this structure is to allow in sunlight during the winter and to block sunlight in the summer. In winter the sun is lower in the sky and so it shines through under the shield and heats the home. In the summer the sun is higher and the shield shades the window, reducing the amount of sunlight (and thus energy) your house receives.
4. Thermal mass is the final component. It is used to store energy during the day so that it can be used at night when the sun has set. In the summer it can be used to store "coolness" at night and release the "coolness" during the day. During winter days the sun heats up the thermal mass and during winter nights the thermal mass heats the home as it cools. In summer the thermal mass can be cooled at night by opening the windows, then during the day the sun's energy will go to warming the thermal mass rather than warming the home. The net effect is that the thermal mass serves to smooth out the temperature differences between day and night.
Note that these pertain to the particular type of house I want to build. There are a lot of alternative setups out there for making use of Passive Solar design. Trombe walls and solar rooms come immediately to mind.
1. A tight building envelope is crucial to insuring you have control of energy coming in and out. With well insulated walls and ceiling the vast majority of energy exiting and entering your home is going to come through the windows. This allows you to focus your efforts on controlling energy flow across your windows rather than across the entire surface of your house.
2. South facing glass is used to control how much sunlight and energy your house picks up. Glass on the other 3 walls should be minimized as the energy movement is harder to control. With south facing glass you maximize the amount of light entering your home (the sun arcs in the southern sky for people in the northern hemisphere). The classic PS design has a lot of south-facing glass and minimal glass elsewhere.
3. The windows should in turn have some sort of structure that shields them from the top. The purpose of this structure is to allow in sunlight during the winter and to block sunlight in the summer. In winter the sun is lower in the sky and so it shines through under the shield and heats the home. In the summer the sun is higher and the shield shades the window, reducing the amount of sunlight (and thus energy) your house receives.
4. Thermal mass is the final component. It is used to store energy during the day so that it can be used at night when the sun has set. In the summer it can be used to store "coolness" at night and release the "coolness" during the day. During winter days the sun heats up the thermal mass and during winter nights the thermal mass heats the home as it cools. In summer the thermal mass can be cooled at night by opening the windows, then during the day the sun's energy will go to warming the thermal mass rather than warming the home. The net effect is that the thermal mass serves to smooth out the temperature differences between day and night.
Note that these pertain to the particular type of house I want to build. There are a lot of alternative setups out there for making use of Passive Solar design. Trombe walls and solar rooms come immediately to mind.
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