 |
Search |
 |
|
|
Search |
|
|
|
Help on finding solar home plans, what's important in solar homes, and examples of well designed solar homes.
Page directory:
Be sure to also look at the "I Did It" example homes
|
| Plans for Passive Solar Homes | |
| Sun Plans
http://www.sunplans.com |
 Good
site for passive solar plans. Offers info on a number of plans online,
and a SunPlans book.
|
|
Sunlight Homes
|
 "Sunlight Homes designs environmentally friendly custom homes specializing in updated passive solar and green concepts and has sold home component packages with super insulated, SIP panel construction across the continental US since 1975."
Their designs emphasize high insulation
values, tight sealing, and high R
value windows to allow less south glazing and more freedom in layout.
|
| Sun Terra Homes
|
 A
nice selection of passive solar plans for sale, along with good explanations
for each of the passive design features in their homes. |
| Passive Solar Homes -- 91 new
award-winning, energy-conserving single family home plans, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1982
|
.jpg) This
is (I think) a really interesting and useful collection of passive solar
home plans. It came out of a competition that HUD sponsored in 1982 for passive solar home designs. These 91 award winning plans were selected from more than 500 entries by builders, designers, and architects. This was a very active time in passive solar home design, and the plans show a high level of innovation. This is the first 30 -- rest to come as time allows. |
| Bale Watch
|
 Nice
site for strawbale home plans and information. Information of 50
passive solar strawbale construction plans. Plus other strawbale
construction information.The plans to (to me) emphasize all the right things -- small efficient design, super insulation, passive solar, efficient plumbing, ... |
| Earth Sheltered Technology, Inc. www.earthshelteredtech.com/Default.htm
|
 A
large selection of earth sheltered home designs. These are homes that
are completely surrounded by earth except on the solar gain side.The company uses a poured concrete domed roof for strength to support a green roof, and for the visual effect of cathedral ceilings. |
| A Guide To Building and Planning
Solar Homes -- Solar Homes for North Carolina II A Design Competition Planbook • June 1999 Energy Division, North Carolina Department of Commerce 38 Page Guide and Plans (3.1 MB pdf) |
 A
38 page guide to passive solar home design and concept level plans for nine solar
homes. Written for North Carolina, the homes emphasize a careful
balance between solar space heating in winter and overheat protection in the
summer -- should be applicable to other parts of the SE. |
| Affordable Passive Solar Planbook
for North Carolina Appalachian State University
|
 A
plan book of affordable passive solar homes from Appalachian State
University. Sizes range from 900 to 1300 sqft, and all include passive
features such as south glazing with overhangs for summer overheat
protection, thermal mass floor slabs, carefully thought out wall and ceiling
details to reduce heat loss and allow good insulation. The modest size
of these house, coupled with using only the most cost effective solar and
energy saving features makes these homes both very energy efficient and very
affordable. Good job ASU!I'd think about adding or making provisions for solar water heating, and, perhaps a whole house fan for summer cooling if you have cool nights. Each house has a downloadable full plan set available -- all free. |
| Lakeland, Florida -- Side by Side
Test, Florida Solar Energy Center Comparison of energy of a home designed with many energy efficiency features to a same size conventional construction home.
|
 This
is a very detailed and carefully done study of two houses of the same size
in Lakeland Florida. One house was built conventionally, and the other
was equipped with a wide array of features to reduce energy consumption,
including: reflective roof, internal duct system, thermal mass inside
insulation, high efficiency and properly sized AC, well designed
overhangs, and optimal windows. The measured energy consumption was 70% less on the house with low energy use features. A solar PV system offset and additional 22%, bringing the net energy use to near zero. The reports provide quite a bit of detail on the saving achieved by each energy efficient design feature. |
| Energy
Efficient Building Technologies (EEBT) http://www.eebt.org/index.html
|
 Tom
Pittsley's construction company. A builder of energy efficient homes.
Lots of interesting material on this site, including some cutting edge
technology in energy efficient home construction. |
| MK Solar -- Michelle Kaufmann
Designs
|
 MK
Solar designs and builds prefabricated green, solar home homes.The website gives some fairly complete descriptions of several of their designs. What makes these houses "Green"? |
| HomePlans.com -- Solar Home Plans | Some solar home plans for sale |
| Adobe Builder |
 Adobe
Home Plans, Information, workshops, books, and the Adobe Builder
Magazine |
| eBackroad http://www.ebackroad.com/2building-green.html
|
 A
good list of resources for designing and building green and solar homes. |
| Dream Green Homes http://www.dreamgreenhomes.com/
|
 Quite
a variety of passive solar designs using a variety of construction
techniques. |
| Kezar Homes, LLC
|
 Solar
and efficient home designs that are affordable.
|
| Wayne Design
|
 A wide
range of innovative solar home designs from cabin size up. |
|
Passive Solar Home Design Examples Some examples of passive solar designs Be sure to also look at the "I Did It" example homes |
|
|
Resource Efficient Homes Across America A Construction Technology Showcase www.homes-across-america.org/index.cfm
|
 This
is a directory of of homes across the US that use "green" and energy
efficient construction. An overview of each house and its green features is provided. While the descriptions are not highly detailed, it is a good place to look at a variety of types and styles of energy efficient construction. A useful resource -- especially when looking for ideas. |
|
Riverdale NetZero Project One of Canada's First 12 NetZero Energy Homes http://www.riverdalenetzero.ca/ Detailed presentation including description of design and construction detail (10 MB)
|
 Very
impressive net zero home in Edmonton, Alberta. A raft of energy
efficient and renewable energy features integrated into a well thought out
overall design.Doubly impressive when you consider how challenging the Edmonton climate is. |
|
The Van Geet Off-Grid Home: An Integrated Approach to Energy Savings Van Geet Home (1.8 MB pdf)
|
 A
detailed (70 page) description of a passive solar energy home design west of
Denver at 9300ft elevation. This is a Building America research home,
and much effort was put into making the design efficient without making it
too expensive. An about 70% energy saving over conventional
construction was achieved without any heroic measures. MUCH detail is
given on the design process, and some simple metrics are presented that
could be used by anyone designing a solar home. |
| New Hampshire Super Insulated Home
|
 Fairly
detailed description of a very efficient, super insulated home in New
Hampshire.The home uses a combination of high insulation levels, exceptional sealing, passive and active solar, and very efficient appliances to very very low energy use. |
|
An Illinois "Passivhaus" http://www.thermotechfiberglass.com/EDU.pdf
|
 A
house in Urbana Illinois built to the German "Passivhaus" standards (and
perhaps a bit beyond).Very impressive total energy use performance. There are a few things about the design that puzzle me a bit, but its very impressive in its performance. |
|
Home Green Home, Laurie Stone How to get articles from Home Power ...
|
 Home
Power Magazine, issue 115, Oct/Nov 06.A very good article describing a Colorado home that is not only very energy efficient, but is constructed with a strong emphasis on green and local materials, and within a budget. |
|
Habitat For Humanity Energy Efficient Solar Home -- Denver Denver Habitat Home (600K pdf) http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/36102.pdf
|
 This
Habitat for Humanity home cuts energy use by 60% by using a combination of
improved insulation, infiltration control, passive solar gain, solar water
heating, and a PV installation. The improvement package was developed
in a partnership between Habitat and NREL. |
| Habitat For Humanity Zero Energy
Demonstration Home in Denver Description of home: Energy use report:
|
 This
Habitat for Humanity home is similar in size to the one just above and is in
the same area, but has additional features that result in further net energy
use -- in fact, less than zero net energy use. Added features include double stud R40 walls, R60 ceiling insulation with raised heel trusses, R30 floors, enhancements to solar water heating system, more attention to air tightness, more attention to glazing, and a PV system increased from 1.8 KW to 4 KW. The 2nd link shows that the natural gas uses for space heating and backup water heating is more than offset by the PV array generating excess electricity which is sent back to the grid -- so, net energy use is less than zero. It would be nice to see how well each of the energy saving/generating features pay on their own. |
| The Energy Efficient House Solar Today Magazine Richard Crume |
 Solar
Today Magazine article, Sep/Oct 2005. Richard describes the process
they went through in designing an energy efficient home that incorporates
solar passive heating and cooling, solar water heating, and many energy
conservation features. It is the best article of its type I have seen
-- highly recommended! |
|
A High-Performance Spec House, Christopher Briley, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 179, May 2006 How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 Fine
Homebuilding article on a very well thought out and energy efficient solar
home. A combination of modest size, efficient envelope, solar passive
heating, efficient heat plant, solar water heating, attached sun space, and
very well thought out layout make this home energy efficient and a
real pleasure to live in. Very nice. |
|
Zero Energy, Infinite Appeal, Nathan Good, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 177, March 2006 How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 Fine
Homebuilding article on an Oregon zero energy home with a number of
interesting energy efficiency features. |
|
MK Lotus -- Modular efficient and sustainable home From Inhabitat.com
|
 Michelle
Kaufmann's MK Lotus modular green home.Emphasizes use of sustainable materials, water conservation and water reuse, and natural lighting. The PV system is said to provide both AC and heating (in a mild climate). |
|
Energy Saving Details, Kip park, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 92, Jan 1995 How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 Fine
Homebuilding Magazine article on a demonstration home built in Manitoba
Canada.Lots of interesting energy efficiency construction details. Double R46 walls with excellent air sealing, R11 windows, grey water heat recovery, and a unique HRV system. |
|
ECO House, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
http://www.inhabitat.com/2005/12/23/ecohouse-brazil/
|
 A
good overview of the ECO house. This house in Rio de Janerio uses a
number of innovative renewable energy techniques and passive cooling
techniques. Very interesting -- lots of good ideas.The article was posted by Sarah -- thank you Sarah!
|
|
Bio-Solar House in Thailand Jan Krikke, Architecture Week
|
From the Architecture Week article:
 "It's
an environmental dream: a self-reliant house that produces its own
electricity, water, and cooking gas. Solar energy powers the
air-conditioning, lights, and household appliances. Rain, dew, and
condensation from the cooling system produce enough water for a family of
four. Recycled water irrigates the garden, and surplus electricity is sold
to the power company or used to drive an electric car 30 miles (50
kilometers) a day." |
|
Solar in the City Catherine Wanek Mother Earth News Mother Earth News Bonus Issue -- Summer 06 |
 A
nice, reasonable size solar passive house in a city environment.
Strawbale construction with solar electric and water heating
systems. The utility bills are 15% of the average house in this area.The article does not provide a great deal of detail, but study plans are available for modest price. |
|
BalComb Sunspace Home Recent Solar Today Article featuring Balcomb House (pdf) |
  A well know solar passive design with an integrated sunspace. Built in 1976. 89% solar heated in the 7000 deg-day New Mexico climate. The links to the left provide fairly detailed information on the home. |
|
Cliff House Cliff house by Norman Saunders (pdf)
|
 This
article by William Shurcliff describes the Cliff house. This Noarman
Saunders 1980's solar house achieves 100% solar heating in a 6000 degree day
climate -- quite and accomplishment. |
|
Future Building Technology, Juergen Korn http://www.city.whitehorse.yk.ca ... (pdf)
|
 Presentation
by Korn on efficient home design for cold climates.Several examples described, and a little bit of construction detail. |
|
Solar Heated Home Using An Attached Greenhouse and Woodburning Stove David Mears The Paper (pdf)
|
 This
1981 paper with 2004 update describes a solar heated house with a "flooded subfloor" thermal
storage area.
Seems like an interesting concept. Report includes test data on a real house.
|
|
Rob Roy’s Earthwood Home
Note: Rob Roy has a good new book out on building earth sheltered homes
-- listed here:
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 149, April/May 1995An interesting and detailed article on building a round house that is earth sheltered, and passive solar. Quite a bit of construction detail. The house is 1100 sqft and cost $27,000 to build. |
|
Tirehouse II – A small development company is inspired after reading about Michael Reynolds “earthships”. Tim Rhodes |
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 136 Feb/Mar 1993Interesting article on
developing a company to build earthship (rammed earth in tires) homes.
|
|
Passive Annual Heat Storage John Hait
Some pictures of an Earth Tube installation:
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 91 Jan/Feb 1985An article describing a scheme for passive solar heat storage on an annual basis. The scheme uses a large "bubble" of dirt around the house that has a good thermal connection with the walls of the living area, but is isolated from the surrounding dirt by insulation and waterproofing. Over time the temperature of the dirt bubble can be brought up to a comfortable temperature that varies only a few degrees over the year. More information and a book on this scheme is available here: Here is a review of John Hait's Passive Annual Storage book by by Nick Pine. |
|
PAHS Example in Virginia http://paccs.fugadeideas.org/tom/index.shtml
|
 Description
of a Passive Annual Storage (PAHS) home in Virginia.Much more window area than the Hait home above. |
|
Building Tide Sun Cottage Angus W. Macdonald, M. Arch. Part 1: www.motherearthnews.com Part 2: www.motherearthnews.com Part 3: www.motherearthnews.com Part 4: www.motherearthnews.com Part 5: www.motherearthnews.com |
 Mother
Earth News 5 part article, starts in issue 85Five part series about building a solar cabin. Designed by architect Angus Macdonald. |
|
Issue 85 and 86 Jan/Feb, Mar/April 1984 Mother’s $10 per square foot (or less!) Earth-Sheltered House: Parts I and II Mother Earth News Part 1: www.motherearthnews.com Part 2: www.motherearthnews.com Part 3: www.motherearthnews.com Part 4: www.motherearthnews.com |
 Mother
Earth News Article, starts in issue 85, Nov 83An interesting round, earth sheltered, low energy requirement home built by Mother Earth News. Incorporates a number of concepts in the construction, low water use, and mini-hydro electric generation that MEN had been working on over time. |
| Monolithic Dome Homes Monolithic Dome Institute www.monolithic.com/gallery/homes/index.html
|
 Monolithic
Dome Homes sells plans, books, equipment and materials for constructing dome
homes. The homes start with an inflatable "air frame", Polyurethane
insulation is sprayed inside the air frame, then rebar reinforced shot Crete
is applied inside the foam. The web site provides a lot of information
on the process and quite a few pictures of sample homes. I have seen
one report that indicated leaks can be a problem over time, so (as always)
do your homework. |
|
Dreamhill Dome Project www.dreamhillresearch.com/dome/index.htm
|
 Quite
a detailed description of an ambitious dome home that is under construction.Lots of detailed pictures on construction to date. Fairly detailed plans for the dome. |
|
Build A Water-Wall Home David Bainbridge
www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 84 Nov/Dec 1983Passive solar houses that incorporate water containers for thermal storage. |
|
The $15,000 Solar Arcade Architect Angus Wyman
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 74 Mar 1982A small (800 sqft) earth sheltered, passive solar home using high quality construction. |
|
Cornell Solar Decathlon House Video Tour
|
 Pretty
good video of the Cornell entry to the Solar Decathlon.
A fairly complete description of the features that make the house energy efficient and earth friendly. |
| Zero (or near zero) Energy Homes | |
|
Zero Energy Home Armory Park Del Sol, Tucson, Arizona, NAHB Research Center, Inc
|
 Very
detailed report on a Zero Energy Home in Tucson, AZ.Lots of detailed design information. Should be very helpful in planning a hot climate ZEH or low energy home. |
|
Florida Zero Energy Test House Florida Solar Energy Center The Report (pdf)
|
 A
home constructed in a very difficult cooling climate (central Florida) to
see if a combination of passive cooling techniques to reduce heat gain, high
efficiency AC, efficient appliances, and a fairly large PV rig could produce
near zero net energy use. The home was largely successful in
meeting these goals.Net energy use was only about 18% of a control house built to current codes. Pretty good detail on how much energy each feature saved. My 2 cents would be that the passive cooling, high efficiency AC, and efficient appliances contributed 67% the of the savings, while adding little to the cost of the house. The 4KW PV rig contributed the other 33% of the savings, and probably cost about $40,000. |
|
Extreme Efficiency -- How Low Can You Go? Larry Schlussler, PhD Home Power Magazine Issue 112, April/May 2006 |
Home Power Magazine, Issue 112.
 This
is a very good Home Power article on a home is Arcatia, CA (4700 Deg Days).
It uses a combination of solar passive design, solar thermal water and space
heating, efficient (and unique) appliances and bathroom fixtures, a
grid-tied PV system, and a sane house size to achieve a home with ZERO net
Carbon emissions. Lots of interesting and well thought out details. |
|
Zero Energy Prefab Home by Michelle Kaufmann
|
 This
attractive, 700 sqft, prefabricated home is said to be a zero energy home.
It includes a green roof, grey water recycling, and has a number of other
"green" features.Hopefully more detail on the design and actual performance numbers will be published later. |
|
Zero Energy Home Built by Appalachian State University
|
 Zero
energy home in Hickory, NC. Solar passive heating and cooling,
solar hot water, high insulation levels, PV system, and geothermal heat pump
make this zero energy home work. Built by students and staff from the Appalachian State University ... more |
|
A Cold-Climate Case Study for Affordable Zero Energy Homes, P. Norton and C. Christensen, Building America Study Home www.eere.energy.gov/ ... (pdf) |
 A
1280 sqft Habitat for Humanity home done as a Building America study home.
The design attempts to achieve net zero source energy use in an affordable package that is easy for home owners to live with. It seems to me that the project gets wrapped around the "zero energy" axle a bit, but there are many things to like in the design. |
|
RuralZED - The Zero Carbon House Is Ready
Detailed Description:
|
 This
is a very carefully thought out design that meets the UK requirement for new
homes to be zero carbon by 2016.Many interesting features including prefab construction, flexible layouts, a base design for the near term that is affordable and yet can be upgraded over time to the full zero carbon requirement. The houses are planned to fit into eco villages rather than thinking solely in terms of single family, detached designs. The website is in work, but the "Full Brochure" pdf gives a pretty detailed rundown on the whole concept. |
| First UK Zero-Emission
Home Unveiled news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6735715.stm
Another article with good refs at bottom:
Another article: |
 The
UK is going to require that new homes be carbon emissions neutral by 2016.This is one of the early cuts at such a home. It will be interesting to see the designs that come out of this requirement. |
|
Austin Program For Zero Energy Homes by 2015 www.ci.austin.tx.us/news/2007/zeh_program.htm
Note the links to four reports that provide detail on the program |
 Austin
Texas sets out a program to make all new home construction "Zero Energy
Capable" by 2015. The program sets out a series of energy efficiency
steps that will reduce new home energy consumption by 65% by 2015.
Energy efficiency requirements for new homes are increased each three years
starting in 2006 with a specific set of energy efficiency features."Zero
Energy Capable" means that energy use is sufficiently low that it could be
completely offset by local generation -- e.g. a solar electric generation
system. |
|
State of Michigan's Zero Energy Home Competition
Christina Snyder 2002 Competition (pdf) 2004 Competition (pdf)
|
 These
two presentations provide the results of Michigan's Zero Energy Home
competition. These are well thought out designs for homes that
use no net energy. The 2002 presentation in particular has quite a bit
of detail on all of the engineering and architectural techniques used to
accomplish the zero energy goal. Hints for taking the next steps
beyond these designs are also provided. |
|
Near Zero Energy Homes http://www.ornl.gov/sci/btc/news.shtm Mother Earth News a-rticle on Near Zero Energy Homes: Super Solar Homes Mother Earth News
ASHRAE paper on Near Zero Energy Homes: |
 The
"Near Zero Energy" homes program promotes a home that is built to use little
energy through good insulation levels and passive solar design. The
homes also include a grid tied PV system that offsets some of the homes
electrical energy use.In looking at the merits of these homes, one might want to weigh the cost vs benefit of the insulation/passive design and the PV installation separately, and decide on each separately. Some aspects of the home described in the ASHRAE paper puzzle me. |
| BedZED -- Beddington
Zero Energy Development http://www.peabody.org.uk/pages/GetPage.aspx?id=179
|
 
BedZED is a zero energy development of about 100 "condos" in the London area. A combination or super-insulation, passive solar, integrated photovoltaic generation, allows the development to be carbon neutral. In addition, an emphasis is placed on efficient transportation via car sharing and other means. These homes appear to be very well lighted and pleasant spaces. |
| Multi Family Buildings | |
|
Sunny Woods -- Zurich, Switzerland Home Energy Magazine Article (pdf)
International Energy Agency Article:
|
 This
amazing apartment building in Zurich consumes only about 1/10th the
energy of a typical new construction building. Each 2000 sqft unit
consumes the equivalent of 80 gallons of oil per year for space heating,
ventilation, and hot water!Passive solar, R50 low thermal bridging walls, R70 roof, vacuum insulation in critical areas, large roof PV installation, solar thermal panels integrated in facade, and a very thoughtful overall design. |
|
Small Homes One of the best ways to reduce energy consumption in homes is to make them smaller. |
|
|
Big Steps in Building: Change our Building Codes from Relative to Absolute, Lloyd Alter, Treehugger www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/big_steps_in_bu_2.php
|
 Good
article in Treehugger on the trend in house size and resource use, and a
major suggestion to change it.With all the improvements in building codes since 1970, does the average house of today use more or less energy than the average house of 1970? |
|
"A Tiny Home To Call Your Own" Patricia Foreman and Andy Lee Plans etc:
|
 This
is a really fine book on all aspects of "tiny homes". It covers tiny
home plans, lifestyles, Do-It-Yourself, clutter control, tiny home
communities, and provides many stories from people who built a tiny home and
live in it.
|
|
Tiny Houses: or How to Get Away From It All, Lester Walker
|
 Another
book on tiny homes that gets very enthusiastic reviews.Amazon.com provides excerpts and table of contents as well as reviews. |
|
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm
|
 Some
well thought out small homes. Sizes range for less than 100 sqft up to
about 500 sqft. All of them contain all the essentials. Most can be transported on the highway -- if you don't like the neighbors, you can just move. Jay sells plans as well as completed homes. |
|
The World of the Microhouse Rev. Bill Kaysing
|
 Mother
Earth News, Issue 149, April/May 1995Quite an interesting article on building very small (as in 100 sqft) and very cheap (as in $1000). The article provides quite a bit of construction detail and quite a lot on the philosophy and benefits of living small. |
|
PowerPOD Prefabricated Homes www.powerhouse-enterprises.com
|
 An
interesting small prefabricated home featuring some passive solar, energy
efficient construction, rain water collection and options for solar heated
water and electricity. |
|
The Compact House Book, Edited by Don Metz
|
 These
homes are the winners of a 1983 contest for architects. Entries were
required to be 1000 sqft or less. Most feature passive solar and
energy efficient designs -- many feature integrated greenhouses or
sunspaces.Entries are from a variety of climates and settings. The best 33 of the over 400 entries are presented in the book. The book is out of print, but widely available from the usual used book places. 192 pages, 1983 |
|
Rough Home Building David S. Warren
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 143 April/May 1994Nice article on building a small cabin/house by hand. Not so much a solar home, but a solar home could be done in this way. |
|
Tiny Homes and Small Homes www.tinyhousecompany.com/index.html
|
 A
web site dedicated to tiny and small homes. Some very nice pictures
and plans. |
| The Mobile Hermitage |
  Site
with quite a bit of detail on the "Mobile Hermitage" -- a very small
transportable home. |
|
The $15,000 Solar Arcade Architect Angus Wyman
|
Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 74 Mar 1982 A small (800 sqft) earth sheltered, passive solar home using high quality construction. |
| Off-Grid Living www.judyofthewoods.net/homestead.html
|
 Another
cozy, low footprint UK home.Judy provides lots of good information on simple building and living. |
|
A “Thermal Envelope” Trailer Caroline Wareham .
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 85 Jan/Feb 1984Quite an interesting concept that completely surrounds a trailer with a large sunspace. The trailer provides ready made plumbing, kitchen etc. while the sunspace provides expanding living space and heat |
|
The ECO-CABIN www.theweebsite.com/ecocabin/thebook.htm
Starplates -- a similar scheme
|
 Plans
for a cabin based in the shape of icosahedron."This shape was chosen for a dwelling because of its simplicity of design, economy, case of construction, great structural strength and maximum utilization of a minimal amount of materials. It has an advantage over 'pure' domes in that placement of windows, doors, and skylights is more conventional. Owing to its simplicity, most of the major components (foundation, floor, and struts) may be prefabricated. " The web sit provides detailed instructions on how to build one. Some thought could be given to incorporating some solar passive heating/cooling features. |
|
The Snail Shell System
|
 Just
could not pass this up.I think I would need a window. |
|
Energy Conservative Homes In Oregon http://www.grantspasshomes.net
|
 This
is a realty site that is aimed at helping people find energy efficient and
solar homes in Oregon.One could hope that it is the first of many. (I don't know anything about these folks -- I just thought it was an interesting and encouraging development) |
New
article in Home Power by Sun Plans architect Coleman gives solar design
guides and shows 6 nice sample plans to fit a variety of situations.