The performance of unheated solar buffer zones (SBZs) or sunspaces in relatively high latitudes' locations has become increasingly controversial. Conceived as simultaneously saving energy and providing amenity, the latter characteristic has provided the user with the opportunity and/or aspiration to negate the former - by heating a sunspace during winter either directly, or by opening it up as an extended heated part of the dwelling. Scotland has been host to passive solar projects promoting the use of small sunspaces where 'opening up' is a greater risk than directly heating. 'Opening-up' signals a change from 'indirect' to 'direct' solar gain with the heated volume partially extended. Within this context, this work examines the relevant aspects of a small sunspace as a passive solar technique by posing three questions from which answers are to be sought. 1. How useful and usable are the sunspaces ? 2. To what extent are occupants' interventions affecting energy saving ? 3. What is the energy 'worth' of the two sunspaces? The vehicle for this work is the CEC Solar Energy Demonstration Project at Easthall, Glasgow, where 36 thermally sub-standard flats built in the 1960s have been retrofitted with each flat having two sunspaces on opposite facades to tackle the issue of random orientation, and a common stairwell functioning as a shared thermal buffer space. The author's close acquaintanceship with a relatively large sample of occupants over a monitoring period of two years, taken in conjunction with data from questionnaires, interviews, diaries and personal observations, has enabled a substantive 'cause and effect' analysis. The findings confirm the likelihood of user intervention negating optimum performance, especially in spring and autumn, and in association with particular household types and characteristics. Nevertheless, the mean space heating load was approximately 30% lower than it would have been for the equivalent dwelling adjusted to the same internal temperature and ventilation rate, but without the front and rear sunspaces; and winter performance vindicates the role of sunspaces in providing good air quality at a relatively low running cost. The work sets aside the issue of life-cycle, pay-back analysis since, in general terms, this is dependent firstly on how much of the cost of sunspaces is written off as necessary floor area or improved amenity, and secondly on variable costs of a complementary energy-efficient package. However, on the assumption that these factors may be favourable, the work concludes with broad design recommendations based on the research findings; in particular recognising the dominance of the 'heat recovery' rather than 'solar' mode of operation of sunspaces.

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ABSTRACT : THESIS PART ONE. The thermal performances of two schools with central atria, and a typical primary school class- base, were assessed using the SERI-RES computer model. ABSTRACT : THESIS PART TWO. To improve the modelling of sunlight and daylight, measured values of solar radiation, recorded at one minute intervals, were used to examine the relationship attributed to Lui A Jordan(1960), between the fraction of the solar radiation which is received on a horizontal surface, and the equivalent diffuse fraction,

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This project is a proposal for the design of a house situated on a plot of land within the town limits of Blacksburg. It incorporates ideas drawn from many sources, particularly from this region of Appalachia -- its geology, architectural heritage, building materials, history, Blacksburg's Comprehensive Plan, housing, agriculture and energy resources. An introduction discusses some ideas on architecture followed by chapters which provide the basis upon which the design was developed, then a description of the house design and drawings followed by an analysis of the environmental responsiveness of the design using a computer program called "Energy Scheming." / Master of Architecture

This research was carried out by studying possible renovation of a two-storey detached multifamily building by using passive solar design options in a cold climate in Borlänge, Sweden where the heating Degree Days are 4451 (base 20°C). Borlänge`s housing company, Tunabyggen, plans to renovate the project house located inthe multicultural district, Jakobsgårdarna. The goal of the thesis was to suggest a redesign of the current building, decrease the heating energy use, by applying passive solar design and control strategies, in a most reasonable way. In addition ensure a better thermal comfort for the tenants in the dwellings. Literatures have been studied, from which can be inferred that passive design should be abasic design consideration for all housing constructions, because it has advantages to ensure thermal comfort, and reduce the energy use. In addition further savings can be achieved applying different types of control strategies, from which the house will be more personalized, and better adapted to the user’s needs.The proposed method is based on simulations by using TRNSYS software. First a proper building model was set up, which represents the current state of the project building. Then the thermal insulation and the windows were upgraded, based on today's building regulations. The developments of the passive solar options were accomplished in two steps. First of all the relevant basic passive design elements were considered, then those advantages were compared to the advantages of applying new conventional thermostat, and shading control strategies.The results show that there is significant potential with the different types of passive solar design; their usage depends primarily on the location of the site as well as the orientation of the project building. Applying the control strategies, such as thermostat, and shading control, along the thermal insulation upgrade, may lead to significant energy savings (around 40 %), by comparison to the reference building without any upgrade.

Gas, electricity, heating and cooling buildings - comfort — our lives revolve around fossil fuels. Technology and the demands of living in today's society add to our gigantic fossil fuel appetite. With gas prices topping three dollars per gallon, changes must be made. This thesis project presents an analysis of passive solar landscape design (PSLD) principles used to create microclimates within the landscape, and thereby increasing human comfort both indoors and outdoors. The analysis includes case study results of fossil fuel consumption and PSLD implementation. Microclimatic comfort is revealed in the design of a solar park in historic Smithfield, Virginia. Smithfield Solar Park is designed with PSLD principles to be self-sustaining - the Farmer's Market pavilions and educational center generating their own electricity through a solar voltaic system. This system is enhanced by careful siting and selection of trees, shrubs and built structures and use of local materials to reduce transportation distances. Smithfield Solar Park features a Farmer's Market, outdoor movies and Friday Cheers, and will host regional and local festivals and events, enhancing tourism and the economy of Smithfield's Historic District. Landscape architecture stands in prime position to improve landscapes and lessen both our dependency on and consumption of fossil fuels through implementation of PSLD principles. Public education about the benefits of implementing PSLD principles can have local, regional, national and global effects on our fuel consumption. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Solar chimney is an important passive design strategy to maximize solar gain to enhance buoyancy effect for achieving adequate air flow rate and a desired level of thermal comfort inside a building. Therefore, solar chimney has the potential advantages over mechanical ventilation systems in terms of energy requirement, economic and environmental benefits. The main aim of this project is to study the technical feasibility of a solar chimney incorporating latent heat storage (LHS) system for domestic heating and cooling applications. The research work carried out and reported in this thesis includes: the development of a detailed theoretical model to calculate the phase change material (PCM) mass for solar chimney under specific climatic condition, the development of a CFD model to optimise the channel depth and the inlet and outlet sizes for the solar chimney geometry, experimental and numerical investigations of the thermal performance of the proposed system using a prototype set-up, a parametric study on the proposed system to identify significant parameters that affect the system performance was carried out by using the verified numerical model. The numerical and experimental study showed that the numerical model has the ability to calculate the PCM mass for the proposed system for the given weather conditions. The optimum PCM should be selected on the basis of its melting temperature, rather than its other properties such as latent heat. The experimental work on the thermal performance of the proposed system has been carried out. The results indicated that the LHS based solar chimney is technically viable. The outlet air temperature and the air flow rate varied within a small range during phase change transition period which are important for a solar air heating system. A numerical model was developed to reproduce the experimental conditions in terms of closed mode and open mode. The model results were in a close agreement with the experimental results particularly the simulated results for the discharging process. With the verified model, a comprehensive parametric analysis intended to optimise the thermal performance of proposed the system was performed. The results analysed are quantified in terms of charging/discharging time of the PCM, temperature difference between outlet air and inlet air of the solar chimney, and mass flow rate of the chimney, which are the most important quantities of the proposed system.

The North House is a proof-of-concept prefabricated solar-powered home designed for northern climates, and intended for the research and promotion of high-performance sustainable architecture. Led by faculty at the University of Waterloo, the project was undertaken by Team North a broad collaboration between faculty and students at the Universities of Waterloo, Ryerson and Simon Fraser. In October 2009, the North House prototype competed in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, where it placed fourth overall. The North House addresses the urgent environmental imperative to dramatically reduce energy consumed by the built environment. It does so, in part by employing two primary technological systems which make use of feedback and response mechanisms; the Distributed Responsive System of Skins (DReSS) reconfigures the envelope in response to changing weather conditions, while the Adaptive Living Interface System (ALIS) provides detailed performance feedback to the inhabitant, equipping them with informed control of their home. This thesis recognizes energy consumption as a socio-technical problem that implicates building inhabitants as much as buildings themselves. It also recognizes the particular potency of the ‘house’ as a building type that touches a broad population in a profoundly personal way; and is thus an apt testing ground for technologies that conserve energy, and those that teach occupants to do the same. With these ideas in mind, the thesis looks to Interactive Architecture - a practice that considers buildings and their inhabitants as an integrated system - as a promising conceptual framework for synthesizing the social and technical aspects of energy conservation in the home.

From the various studies, it can be concluded that the excessive summer heating and the humidity are one of the major problems of the hot, humid climatic region. The literature review for this study shows that natural ventilation alone cannot meet year long optimum indoor comfort in buildings. This research, through a design exercise, intends to verify whether a naturally ventilated house, in hot humid region of Austin, TX, can enhance its passive cooling potential through double‐walled wind catcher and solar chimney. In this research, a passive solar residence has been designed. Two designs have been explored on the chosen site: a basecase design without the wind catcher and solar chimney and another design with wind catcher and solar chimney. In the designcase, the placement of the wind catcher and the solar chimney has been designed so that a thermal siphon of airflow inside the building can be created. The design might show that there will be a natural airflow during the time of the year when natural wind does not flow. Moreover, the double walled wind catcher will resist the cool winter wind due to its shape and orientation. In the design, the placement of the wind catcher and the solar chimney has been done so that a thermal siphon inside the building can be created. Therefore, inside the home, there will be a natural airflow during the time of the year when natural wind does not flow. The double walled wind catcher has been designed and placed according to the orientation of the building in order to achieve the optimum wind flow throughout the year. The solar chimney has been placed in a certain part of the building where it can get maximum solar exposure. By comparing two cases, it can be clearly said that there will some kind of changed indoor comfort level. Since the potential of the design has been judged through perception, a computational fluid dynamics simulation analysis for a year is to be done.