Solar thermal / Guides

...thermal bridges: When one section of a wall conducts heat much quicker than another, we refer to it as a thermal bridge , and that can greatly reduce the overall R value of a wall. Virtually every thermal bridge in this wall assembly was identified and eliminated in the design phase. Thermal breaks in exterior insu...

...Thermal bridging and poor quality windows can make it quite unpleasant to be near exterior walls on the really cold days. How window placement effects thermal bridging Thermal bridging around windows and doors results in loss of energy , cold spots, condensation points and potential wall damage. To demonstrate th...

...solar panels to power your home there is an even stronger motivation to design for reduced consumption. Energy efficient appliances and low-flow faucets reduce hot water requirements and LED bulbs and design for natural lighting keep the house bright with very little energy use. Off grid passive solar h...

...solar heat gain. Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC): The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient is a scale from 0 to 100 that indicates the amount of solar gain you will get through a pane of glass. The higher the number, the better the solar gain. Energy Rating (ER): After U-value, SHGC and the various designs and materi...

...thermal mass and greater extraction of heat from its exhaust, a masonry stove can reduce wood consumption by as much as 2/3rds compared to a conventional wood stove. Solar thermal panels powered by photovoltaics: pumps and fans for hydronic solar panels (liquid) or air solar thermal panels or even air solar heated fl...

...Thermal Mass An extremely important part of solar greenhouse design is planning enough thermal mass , either via water, masonry or soil underground. This can be as simple as adding water barrels or you can upgrade by incorporating a Ground to Air Heat Transfer ( GAHT) system . Even a small greenhouse collects as much...

...Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, a value between 0 and 1 that indicates how much sun energy passes through the glazing at a 90° angle to the sun rays; a lower SHGC means less solar radiation passing through the glazing and heating the home interior. The Solar Heat Gain coefficient based on orientation in th...

...Solar Index program (PSI) of energy modelling designs from the benchmark of complete passive solar heating, this is not a rigid target. Depending on climate and other considerations (such as with the Kenogami House), achieving zero heat demand is not always the best use of resources. Regardless of your building envel...

...solar panels" which really did make us wonder, as there are so many variables in play that we don't see how that can always be true. Important in that claim is the 'could', so Ecohome's engineers decided to run some figures of their own just to see if this claim looks plausible. Perhaps this 'could' be true in some p...

...solar heat collection and retention with modern building techniques all the way back in 1977. So Passive House started in the 70's? Most people in the USA and Canada are only really starting to hear about Passive Solar Homes and Passive House homes now , so what happened to this ground-breaking design principle tha...

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 performance design and technology, called "The Most Resilient House in North America" by Alex Wilson, founder of the Resi...