In an earlier article, published in two parts, Passive Solar Adaptations in Existing Houses, we examined a hypothetical modest bungalow with passive solar potential. We assumed it was located at the 40th parallel, in Columbus, Ohio, one of the ten best cities in the US, I understand. By the time we hit our stride in the second part of the article, we had assumed the house had a typical basement, and pressed on towards making it virtually self-heating in winter with a passive solar strategy.
We saw in Chart 5 of the article, that under average January conditions of occupancy, temperature, wind and amount of sun, that the house would actually have a slight net heat gain over the twenty four hour period. Of course our renovation specifications were beyond typical building code standards, which represent only the legal minimum in construction quality.
Our passive solar strategy included:
· modest window areas on north, east, and west walls, with low-emissivity sealed double glazing
· extensive windows on the south wall, with heat gain low-emissivity sealed double glazing
· stringent air-tightness, with energy-recovery ventilation
· insulation standards 50% or more above building code
· manually controlled insulating night blinds in lieu of conventional window treatments
· innovative phase change material heat storage and retrieval system
