Passive solar home design

This is the first in a series of videos on how to build passively-heated homes. WATCH MORE VIDEOs about passive solar home design & construction here This is the first in a series of videos on passive solar home construction, we begin with passive solar design basics, orienting the future house on the site to take fu…

How to build a slab-on-grade with a thickened edge on standard soil. There are many ways to build a slab-on-grade (or frost-protected shallow foundation), the following is a step-by-step walk though of a thickened-edge slab floor we built. XPS or EPS high-density foam is typically used under concrete slab floors, in t…

The Kenogami House holds the highest LEED score achieved in Canada (106), meets Passive House performance of 15 kWh per square meter and won a Home of the Year Award from Green Builder© Media. Along with its unprecedented achievements, the Kenogami House continues to act as a laboratory for resilient, cold climate bui…

With the help of the Ecohome design team, home builder Alain Hamel builds "The Most Resilient House in North America". The first house designed under our Passive Solar Index (PSI) program won "Most Resilient House" in the 2013 Green Builder® Home of the Year Awards. The Kenogami House is a living laboratory of high pe…

Harold Orr introduced us to some of the most essential components of durable and energy efficient homes. Here is a look back at the passive solar heated house he designed that revolutionized the housing industry. While developing pages on passive heating and cooling for Ecohome, and writing about Passive House, we wer…

The Conservation House in Saskatchewan was built in 1977, and was a revolutionary building design that introduced passive heating and cooling to modern Passive House home building. Passive House Design, how does it work? If you've ever sat in a car with black leather seats in the summer, particularly when wearing shor…

The basics on passive heating and cooling homes, as when building a green high performance & healthy home, free heat is a good start. What is Passive Solar Heating & Cooling? Passive heating and cooling of homes is not new. The above image is of Mesa Verde National Park, the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in Color…

With a southern orientation and well placed windows, passive solar homes can potentially reduce heating requirements by an easy 25% without adding any cost by designing around a good Passive Solar Index score. Homes heated by the sun's free heat! Passive Solar Houses are aptly named because there are no wires, panels…