Passive Solar Home Plans
Passive solar home plans have moved from being a special added feature to being almost a standard element of home design. The energy crisis has mandated this change and passive solar home plans are the first wave of attack toward energy efficiency.
Passive solar home plans are not a new idea. Our ancestors were using them out of pure common sense thousands of years ago. Homes were built and placed to provide maximum exposure to the sun and maximum use of available shelter and shade. As we became able to cheaply heat and cool our homes, we moved away from passive solar planning because we did not need it. Today, we are back to where we need it and need it badly.
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The energy crisis is a real medusa with several heads. There is the environmental movement that is being taken more seriously now than ever before in the past. There is the cost issue as energy costs continue to rise and the search for alternative forms of energy becomes more imperative. It the middle of all of the effort to solve this monster of a crisis stands the basic principles that we have known for centuries. We have given it a fancy name now; passive solar planning, but we could just as easily call it common sense.
Passive solar home plans involve the actually locating of the structure to make the best use of the natural setting. This means facing it so that it receives the best exposure to sunlight. It means placing windows to get the maximum natural light. It also means locating the house where it receives the best shading and protection from wind. The passive solar home plan is a merger of home design, site preparation, landscape design, and good common sense that puts the home in the ideal location.
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Much attention is given today to active solar energy home plans, and any type of active energy controlling innovation that can lower energy costs within a home. Energy efficiency has become the standard for a new home plan. How much more so, then, is the idea of passive solar home planning. This does not involve expensive new technology or new forms of heating or cooling that are mistrusted still by so many consumers. It simply involves planning and produces only positive results in the form of energy conservation without adding any additional costs or depending on unproven technology.
If a home designer or architect is not an expert on passive solar planning, they are really falling behind the basic standards of their field. It is something that just can not be ignored any longer. We do not have the energy luxury to not take full advantage of the energy that is free to us. We can no longer arrogantly place our homes anywhere we want, forgetting the lessons learned in the past about shade and shelter. A passive solar home plan is a sensible home plan, indeed.