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home page » passive solar design chapter » heating & cooling performance ... you are here
Block homes and businesses can be found in every town in the world. That's what makes an HTM so economical and functionally sensible; the common commercial style of block or poured-in-place concrete construction. Your local Quick Stop grocery/gas store was block built for the sake of economy and strength. Add exterior insulation (for heating and cooling retention) and a coat of surface bonding cement (structural stucco) for waterproofing, strength and beauty - throw in a little passive solar design (maybe some shade cloth) - and you have an HTM. Any local contractor should be more than capable of working on the project - nothing really "alternative" about it other than the function. We're certain it'll work better than a conventional structure in your climate, any climate. The huge pocket of dry, stabilized temperature ground under and around an HTM allows the Earth to passively moderate your indoor environment.
Passive solar designs are geared more towards heating than cooling performance, but the principles are the same in a hot climate: moderate indoor air temperature by allowing the home's thermal mass to store energy. Cement block homes and commercial buildings are extremely common in hot climates. Their ability to discourage termites, survive hurricanes, and avoid rot and mold stands to reason, but their ability to store the cooling energy of night breezes is what makes block so attractive. Changes to the basic HTM sustainable design are site specific for hot climates, involving properly sized overhangs, use of vertical glazing, shifting the orientation more towards the view (or due north side in extremly hot climates) and adapting the exterior with a shade cloth covered trellis. Shade alongside a home substantially lowers ambient outside temperature (what the home feels through the walls). The classic southern veranda is easily re-created seasonally, and on a larger scale, with shade netting.
One thing you can not control passively (without a mechanical device) is humidity.
Shade fabric outside the home will lower temperature - and that is a good start.
Keeping the air moving past high thermal mass walls with fans helps make the environment more comfortable, but the only way to safely lower humidity is with an air conditioner or dehumidifier.
And that requires shutting the room up to lower humidity or air temperature (and using a bit of electricity).
Indoor air quality is a controling issue in design, so most hot climate clients choose to air condition only a few choice rooms.
Rooms they can air out later, when they are not occupied, like a bedroom, rather than air condition the entire structure.
Passive solar cooling is a bit of an oxymoron, at best, but there is one sure fire method to cool in any climate with minimal energy.
The same in-floor radiant heating tubes used in every other house on the block can also be used for cooling.
Simply pump cold well water (or river water) through your system of "geothermal" pipes embedded in the slab.
The radiant cooling effect makes higher room air temperatures feel much, much cooler since your ankles are chilled by the cold water running through the concrete floor.
Sustainable rural homes often feature large cisterns, orchards, gardens and ponds, so there is always a use for the water - it isn't wasted energy or natural resources.
Lacking a purpose for the water you are pumping through the floor tubing, you can always send it back down into groundwater with a drywell leaching pit or pipe back into river.
Free air conditioning!
This passive radiant cooling effect is energy-free when diverting a small stream or spring.
Architects will hopefully "discover" these complex zero-energy secrets of mine ... and the world is more than welcome to it - keep it simple folks.
Low tech, passive solar heating and cooling techniques work, naturally.
The following weather data was collected over sixty years by the local substation in Dillon (about 400 feet higher than the HTM pictured throughout this website). As you can see, this is an extremely cold climate for testing of passive solar heating sustainable design. Winter is six months long up here on the continental divide. Our HTM design has proven nearly 100% sustainable through many high country winters. We're certain it'll work just as well, if not better, in your climate, any climate. Keep in mind that you get some solar gain even on a cloudy winter day in Maine. Where there is light, there is solar energy. Catch what free energy you can and supplement the rest - just like any other home. Reflecting sunlight off a white surface (snow or bleached sidewalk) to get even more solar gain helps. Excess radiant solar energy storage (thermal mass) underneath, in the walls and floor allows you to VENT an HTM much more aggressively, while maintaining the same personal comfort level. Passive solar radiant heating and cooling is a nice alternative to conventional stick frame, air tight, high R construction where personal comfort level is maintained by air temperature alone.
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