The Passive Solar Energy Book: A Complete Guide to Passive Solar Home, Greenhouse and Building Design

About this book

"The Passive Solar Energy Book: A Complete Guide to Passive Solar Home, Greenhouse and Building Design," published in 1979 (expanded professional edition 1979) by Rodale Press, is the foundational popular reference for passive solar design in residential and small commercial buildings, written by architect and researcher Edward Mazria. The book synthesised the research on bioclimatic and passive solar design conducted through the 1960s and 1970s and made it accessible to practitioners at a moment of intense interest in energy-efficient building design following the oil crises of the 1970s. (See also Book #65 for full description.) The expanded professional edition offered more detailed technical guidance than the standard edition, with additional data on solar radiation, degree days, and glazing sizing for different climate zones across the United States, along with worked examples and case studies of completed passive solar buildings. Mazria presents twenty-seven design patterns addressing direct gain, indirect gain (Trombe wall), and isolated gain (sunspace/greenhouse) systems; the thermal mass requirements of each system type; natural ventilation and summer cooling; daylighting; and the relationship between building orientation, glazing, overhangs, and seasonal solar geometry.

The book includes solar angle charts and regional climate data that allow designers to calculate passive solar performance for any location in the United States without computer modelling tools. The book established practical design rules that could be applied immediately by architects and builders without specialist knowledge of solar engineering, and in doing so contributed significantly to the early development of what would later be called green building design. Sources: Rodale Press; Amazon; Goodreads; Archive.org.