Passive Solar Architecture

No matter what climate you're designing for, new buildings can be solar oriented, naturally heated and cooled, naturally lit, naturally ventilated, and made with renewable, sustainable materials. In a comprehensive overview of passive solar design-the resurrected solar strategy that is sweeping through Germany and rapidly regaining popularity in the United States-two of the nation's solar pioneers give homeowners, architects, and builders the keys to successfully using the sun and climate resources for heating, cooling, ventilation, and daylighting.

Drawing on examples from decades of their own experiences and those of others, the authors offer readers overarching principles as well as the details and formulas necessary to successfully design a more comfortable, healthy, and secure places in which to live, laugh, dance, and be comfortable. Even if the power goes off. Passive Solar Architecture will also help readers understand "greener" and more sustainable building materials and how to use them, and explore the historical roots of green design that have made possible buildings that produce more energy than they use.

Fully illustrated with many diagrams and photographs, the book will help everyone involved in a building project best undertake a sustainable project, from planning and design, to building, remodeling, and operating the completed building.

About the Authors:

David A. Bainbridge is the founder of the Passive Solar Institute and recipient of the ASES Passive Pioneer Award in 2004. The coauthor of The Straw Bale House, Bainbridge is currently Associate Professor of Sustainable Management at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant International University, San Diego. He lives in San Diego, California.

Ken Haggard is an architect and principal in the San Luis Sustainability Group. An active member of the American and International Solar Energy Societies, he received the Passive Pioneer Award from ASES in 1999 and was made a fellow of ASES in 2000. His office and home-in Santa Margarita, California-are passive solar, off grid, and straw bale.