Contents

• What are passive solar buildings?

• Constructional Elements for residential buildings
• How does passive solar design use the sun’s power?
• How does it work?
• Systems involved
• Radiant panels
• Thermal storage walls
• Trombe walls
• Concrete walls
• Concrete block walls
• Water walls
• Material considerations
• Benefits
• Levels of application
• Conclusion
 Introduction

• Industrial and technological innovations, population growth,

and rapid urbanization lead to an increase in energy
consumption.
• Dependency on foreign sources of energy and their negative
environmental impact have made energy efficiency and
conservation critical issues.
• 35–40% of our energy is consumed by buildings, and 85% of
that is need solely for heating.
 What are passive solar buildings?

• “In PASSIVE SOLAR BUILDINGS, windows, walls, and

floors are made to collect, store, and distribute ’SOLAR
ENERGY’ in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar
heat in the summer.
 Elements considered for
residential buildings construction

• Placement of room-types, internal doors

& walls, & equipment in the house.
• Orienting the building to face the equator.
• Extending the building dimension along
the east/west axis
• Adequately sizing windows to face the
midday sun in the winter, and be shaded
in the summer.
• Minimising windows on other sides,
especially western windows.
• Using thermal mass to store excess solar
energy during the winter day (which is
then re-radiated during the night).
 How does passive solar design use
the sun’s power?

• Procedures for design of buildings to passively use solar energy for

heating buildings may typically involve:
• Use of shading devices to reduce heating by radiant (solar) energy in
the summer and allow it in winter,
• Utilize thermal convection (i.e. hot air rises) to maximize heating by
convection in winter, and
• Utilize thermal storage (mass-effect) to transfer excess heating capacity
from daylight to night time hours.
 How does it work?

• Passive solar buildings are designed to let the heat into the
building during the winter months, and block out the sun
during hot summer days. This can be achieved by passive
solar design elements such as shading, implementing large
south-facing windows, and building materials that absorb and
slowly release the sun’s heat.
 Systems

Direct Gain
Indirect Gain
Day lighting
Direct Gain
Indirect gain
Day lighting
 Radiant panels

Radiant panels are simple passive solar systems that are inexpensive
and well suited as retrofits to metal buildings.
 Thermal storage walls

• A thermal storage wall is a

passive solar heating system in
which the primary thermal
storage medium is placed
directly behind the glazing of the
solar aperture.
• Heat transfer to the living space
is sometimes augmented by the
addition of circulation vents
placed at the top and bottom of
the mass wall.
 Trombe Walls

In summer
The density of the materials in
the Trombe wall acts as a
method of slow heat
absorption and transfer.
 Continued…

In winter
• In the winter, when the sun is allowed
to shine on them, they can be
‘charged’ up to help to warm the
house by transferring the sun’s heat
inside.
• In the winter, when the surrounding
outside air temperature drops as the
air cools after the sun has gone down,
the object with thermal mass will
continue to release its stored heat
energy.
• When all the heat is discharged, it is
ready to once again ‘charge’ up or
absorb heat again.
 Concrete Block Wall:
• Concrete block buildings are very common they may offer
opportunities for passive solar retrofits.
• Concrete floor slabs and massive partitions between zones help
prevent overheating and otherwise improve the performance of
concrete block thermal storage walls
• For new construction, superior performance of solid masonry walls
by filling the cores of the block in the thermal storage wall with
mortar as it is erected.
 Water walls

• Water walls are thermal storage walls that use containers of water
placed directly behind the aperture glazing as the thermal storage
medium.
• It is more advantageous than a trombe wall by using half the space
and being effective at much higher heat capacities.
• The advantage over masonry walls is that water has a volumetric
heat capacity about twice that of high density concrete; it is
therefore possible to achieve the same heat capacity
 Material Consideration

• When designing energy-efficient buildings, it’s necessary to know

the solar heat gain of materials used on the structure’s exterior
Glass and plastic blocks
Patterned glazing
Skylights
Sunshades
Roof structures
Tubular daylighting devices
Solar screens
Electrochromic and photochromic glazings
Translucent or solar-absorbent product.
 Skylights

Skylights are a simple way of introducing light to rooms right below roof
level. Both fixed and operable skylights are available.
Angled (splayed) walls broadcast the most light, and placing skylights near a
wall creates a pleasant light-washing effect on the wall surface.
. Skylights also can produce unexpected glare and uncomfortably warm
indoor temperatures unless they have shades. With this in mind, in most
climates it is wise to limit skylights to north roof slopes
 Windows and glazing

• In terms of energy efficiency, glazing is a very important element of

the building envelope.
• Glazing transfers both radiant and conducted heat
• Daytime heat gain must be balanced against night time heat loss
when selecting glazing areas.
• Window frames can conduct heat. Use timber or thermally
separated metal window frames in cooler climates.
 Working method of
following:
1. Trombe wall
2. Water wall
3. Solar chimney
4. Earth bunding
5. Earth ship
 Passive solar buildings for
study:
1. Druk white lotus school
2. Environmental sanitation institute