Basic principles of passive solar heating for low carbon transition

Abstract

The energy efficiency of buildings at residential sector can be greatly improved through the use of passive solar heating strategies. These strategies are universally applicable to new buildings of small to moderate size and are also applicable to many existing buildings that are suitable for retrofit. Three types of tools are provided. First, a general discussion of the basic concepts and principles of passive solar heating is presented to familiarize the reader with this technology. Second, a set of guidelines is presented for use during schematic design or for initial screening if an evaluation is being performed. These guidelines enable the user to quickly define a building that will perform in a cost-effective manner at the intended building site. Finally, a quantitative design-analysis procedure is presented that enables the user to obtain an accurate estimate of the auxiliary heating requirements of a particular passive solar design. This procedure may be used to refine a schematic design based on the guidelines already mentioned, or may be used to compare the merits of candidate designs in a proposal evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to provide the tools needed by professionals involved in building design and/or evaluation who wish to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy resources for space heating and cooling.