The Overall Design of Solar Houses Is Important
Regardless Of The Green Materials That Are Used

      This is the west side of the house. Just because a home is made out of straw bale does not guarantee that it will stay cool in the summer. The overall design of a solar house is extremely important, regardless of the green building materilas. This is the west side of the home. Note that there is only one window on this wall. This is because west-facing windows will overheat a home in the summer as the sun moves towards the west during the hottest part of the day. A large window on this side could turn the home into a solar oven.
      The door to the left goes to the battery room. The batteries store the solar-generated electricity for use at night and on cloudy days. The small door at the top is actually a screened vent for cooling down the house at night. Using a door instead of a window provides for much better insulation in the winter when venting is not needed. It also prevents too much solar energy from entering the interior of the home, and thus raising the termperture. The rain gutter downspout (seen on the right) feeds into a simple sand filter before flowing into the buried rainwater cistern via an underground pipe. Green building solar design incorporates many low-tech design measures that can have a dramatic impact on the function of the home.

For more information, see pages 22-23 of the Building With Awareness Guidebook and Chapter 2 of the Building With Awareness DVD video