Synopses & Reviews
Finally there is a contemporary book that demonstrates the potential for heating and cooling a home with free energy. This new volume is a welcome addition to the canon of indispensable solar construction books, bringing fully up to date for the 1990s the legendary promise of 1970s-era solar pioneers: the promise of a home that heats and cools itself with minimal use of a back-up furnace. Whether you are adopting the model developed by Jim Kachadorian or using another designer's layout and plan,
The Passive Solar House will provide you with pragmatic, immediately applicable solar design advice that is usable in any region or climate.
Information includes:
- Proper siting and strategic window selection and placement
- Energy and money-saving construction tips
- Ideal air-exchange rates, and ways to avoid overheating
- Methods for gauging and maximizing thermal mass
- Criteria for sizing of back-up heating systems
- Interior design for year-round comfort
This book is brimful of worthwhile, constructive how-to advice, and gives readers the basis for understanding the hows and whys of solar design, including a succinct presentation of ten key solar-design principles that have defined and guided solar architecture for thousands of years.
Review
"The book is suffused with a sensitivity to environmental issues of all sorts, a useful perspective in these resource-limited times. An essentially simple book, elegant in presentation and forceful in argument; recommended for extensive scientific and/or broader home-building collections." Library Journal, June 1997
Synopsis
Full of valuable, constructive, how-to advice, this book gives readers a comprehensive look at the ten key principles of solar design that can complement any style of architecture or method of building. Kachadorian's sensible approach is both appealing and reassuring for those who think innovation in solar design ended in the 1970s.
Kachadorian emphasizes that solar homes need not look experimental or futuristic, nor do they require complicated, expensive, or hard-to-maintain gadgetry. Good planning is worth much more than special technologies or equipment. The Passive Solar House contains information on how to save money when building, how to avoid overheating, and which interior design features will lead to year-round comfort.
Heavily illustrated, with color photos and easy-to-use formulas, passive solar is perfect for anyone considering a building project which maximizes energy efficiency. The author's clear, simple presentation of the basics combined with his technical authority make the material accessible to the owner/builder, professional contractor, or architectural student.
About the Author
James Kachadorian is a civil engineer with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is the founder of Green Mountain Homes, a company which gained national recognition as the first provider of innovative, manufactured solar homes. He has built more than 300 passive solar homes. Kachadorian resides in Woodstock, Vermont
Table of Contents
1.Let nature heat your home
2.Passive solar concept
3.Solar slab and basic solar design
4.Insulation, venting, and fresh air
5.Basic layouts and floor plans
6.How to do the solar design calculations
7.Foundation plan, and backup heating and cooling
8.Sidehill variation, and solar design worksheets
9.Sunspaces, and special design considerations
10.Interior design for year-round comfort Cornelia C. Kachadorian