Passive Solar Roof Design

Passive solar design takes advantage of a building s site climate and materials to minimize energy use.

Passive solar roof design.

In passive solar building design windows walls and floors are made to collect store reflect and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. Light colored homes reflect the sun s light reducing the amount of heat retained in the walls and therefore lowering summer cooling loads. Passive solar design begins with the simple idea that you can build a house that uses natural heating cooling ventilation and daylighting. When sunlight strikes a building the building materials can reflect transmit or absorb the solar radiation.

This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. Natural convection and ventilation. Passive solar design takes advantage of this by designing a home s roof pitch and overhang to allow solar heat gain during the winter months and block it during the summer. Passive solar homes can be any color just like normal homes but they lose a major advantage if they aren t painted to suit the climate.

These homes require much less fossil fuel energy to heat.