Passive solar and natural cooling

Buildings designed to gather or shed heat and light without machines.

Capture · Solar · No. 24

• Capture
• Output: Heat, cooling, light

A dark wall behind glass can soak up the day's sun and release it indoors 8-10 hours later, with no machines.

Chart: Illustration: Passive solar and natural cooling

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Buildings gather or shed heat and light through their shape and materials; a Trombe wall at Zion supplied a fifth of its building's heating.

Three things to know

1. Evaporative coolers can chill passing air by about 8-22 C at under half the cost of air conditioning.
2. Seawater cooling draws water from about 900 m deep and can use 83-94.5% less electricity.
3. Radiative cooling surfaces have stayed 4.9 C below air temperature in full sun in laboratory tests.

The journey

1. 1 Sun and skyFree heat, light and night-time cooling
2. 2 DesignOrientation, windows, overhangs and shading
3. 3 Thermal massThick walls store heat for hours
4. 4 Air movementVentilation, windcatchers and earth tubes
5. 5 ComfortWarm winters, cool summers, daylight indoors

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