Tag: passive solar

  • How to build a simple solar thermal water collector

    In august, during the “Do It Yourself 2.0” workshops set up by Cohabitat, I ran a workshop in which I taught how to build a simple and affordable solar thermal collector that is suitable for domestic hot water. Of course I made a lot of video and photos so that I could edit it all […]

  • Garbage warrior

    This week I watched the “Garbage warrior”, a film about american architect, Mike Reynolds. This documentary shows several buildings and subdivisions built by Reynolds, starting with the Thumb House, and the Earthship, of course. This film was highly motivating and inspiring for me. I am wondering if I could add some tires with rammed earth […]

  • Passive solar: interior thermal mass

    Thermal mass on the interior of the building is able to store heat or cold, and then slowly release it back out to the surrounding air. Heat from a sunny winter day as well as the coolness of a summer night can be retained inside the insulated shell of the exterior walls if the building […]

  • Passive solar: insulated exterior shell

    The better the insulation in the walls, roof, foundation, floors, doors, and windows, (the shell of the house), the slower the leakage rate of heat or cold from the inside of the house to the outside, and vice versa.  To be more specific, heat always flows from the higher temperature to the lower temperature — […]

  • Passive solar energy use

    Passive solar technology is simply a set of techniques for using sunlight for useful energy without the use of any active mechanical systems.  These methods convert sunlight into usable heat (passive solar heating — hot water, warm air, and heat stored in thermal mass), cause air-movement for ventilation, and store heat for future use.  Passive […]