What about deciduous trees in the yards of one-story and two-story houses and buildings? They block and soften the sun in summer and let the sun shine in during winter.
Even as an architect, but as a particular type of architect, i would say Carl's quote doesn't go far enough - in many cases, it is beyond "abdication" into the realm of full throated support to keep big glazing in lieu of shading when it's time for budget reconciliation. In some ways, more holistic "sustainable" design has only made the argument (from architects) for MORE unshaded glass worse, where claims of loss of daylight/biophilia/etc. are now used to support keeping the glass-to-wall ratio while killing any type of "additive" exterior shading (while omitting that the extent of glazing is also, of course, a design choice). We see this on juries in awards submissions as well. Shading and orientation of shading are massive...nice post!
The 1963 Victor Olgyay book “Design With Climate” has a wonderful chapter on solar control that includes an easy to read graphic chart that shows different shading techniques and their effectiveness. The book should be an essential reference for students and designers.
When we did our house, the best and most effective advice I had was from a solar installer. (Yes, they existed in 1998.) He said to design the overhang on the south side so that no sun entered the house between May and mid-August. Full sun should enter from mid-October to February. If you do this, combined with sufficient insulation, you won't need much air conditioning. We open our windows at night, close them in the morning, and until this year have not needed cooled air. Climate change, and the coming massive heat wave, makes me wonder, but for 26 years we've been fine.
While I completely agree with this, I must note that doing everything in that hierarchy you’re going to have a high indoor humidity problem that can start growing mold. In high performance homes humidity becomes the main issue in many climates.
Similar to Wayne Teel's comments the passive solar house I know best was built 40 years ago with a lot of salvaged/repurposed materials from demolitions in downtown Halifax. The orientation and large south facing panels of glass and a Trombe wall keep the house warm on the coldest sunniest days in Cape Breton (January, February). Supplementary heat comes from a solar thermal unit (Cansolar from Newfoundland) and a high efficiency Italian wood stove. In summer, a three foot wide upper 'deck' blocks the sun from overheating and opened screened deck doors and windows make a natural and wonderful ventilation. While not highly regarded among architects it's one of the most beautiful and inexpensively constructed home I know of. Low upfront carbon & next to no operational heating cost. Do a lot of the new Passiv design seems to ignore these effective 'good enough' designs.
"...Power outages will increase in the future, especially during heat waves..."
Thanks to political and ideological stupidity.
"Conditions are similar in much of North America, where many homes and apartments lack air conditioning and are now suffering in the summer."
From Perplexity:
"- 10%–13% of U.S. homes have no air conditioning at all.
- About 70% have central AC; the remainder often rely on window units or other less effective cooling methods."
Perplexity also noted that it is the Northwest and Northern New England, due to our milder climates, have less A/C implementations and making up a substantial number of that 10-13% number.
Well done! Shading starts with good orientation of homes and urban design with tall narrow alleys and streets. Moveable shades - toldos. Tod Neubauer helped us develop the microclimate based building code for the city of Davis in the 1970s
If you’re interested in natural shading techniques, check out this one: Forestiere Underground Gardens. It’s located east of California State Route 99 in Fresno in the central San Joaquin Valley, easily accessible using the Shaw Avenue exit. Here’s the link: https://undergroundgardens.com/
I’ve seen this latest iteration of solar protection and wondered first if that was what it actually was and second did it actually work, thank you for the clarification. We have the benefit in our remodeled 1950 rambler of green space on all sides with the back and sides shaded much of the day though openings in the green canopy allow direct sunlight for a part of the day. This leaves us with a clear micro climate difference between our front yard and our back. We close the house up on the side facing the front yard and the morning sun and open it much of the day to the cooler shaded back yard. Humidity is often the decisive element that pushes us to turn on the ac.
What about deciduous trees in the yards of one-story and two-story houses and buildings? They block and soften the sun in summer and let the sun shine in during winter.
Even as an architect, but as a particular type of architect, i would say Carl's quote doesn't go far enough - in many cases, it is beyond "abdication" into the realm of full throated support to keep big glazing in lieu of shading when it's time for budget reconciliation. In some ways, more holistic "sustainable" design has only made the argument (from architects) for MORE unshaded glass worse, where claims of loss of daylight/biophilia/etc. are now used to support keeping the glass-to-wall ratio while killing any type of "additive" exterior shading (while omitting that the extent of glazing is also, of course, a design choice). We see this on juries in awards submissions as well. Shading and orientation of shading are massive...nice post!
The 1963 Victor Olgyay book “Design With Climate” has a wonderful chapter on solar control that includes an easy to read graphic chart that shows different shading techniques and their effectiveness. The book should be an essential reference for students and designers.
When we did our house, the best and most effective advice I had was from a solar installer. (Yes, they existed in 1998.) He said to design the overhang on the south side so that no sun entered the house between May and mid-August. Full sun should enter from mid-October to February. If you do this, combined with sufficient insulation, you won't need much air conditioning. We open our windows at night, close them in the morning, and until this year have not needed cooled air. Climate change, and the coming massive heat wave, makes me wonder, but for 26 years we've been fine.
While I completely agree with this, I must note that doing everything in that hierarchy you’re going to have a high indoor humidity problem that can start growing mold. In high performance homes humidity becomes the main issue in many climates.
Similar to Wayne Teel's comments the passive solar house I know best was built 40 years ago with a lot of salvaged/repurposed materials from demolitions in downtown Halifax. The orientation and large south facing panels of glass and a Trombe wall keep the house warm on the coldest sunniest days in Cape Breton (January, February). Supplementary heat comes from a solar thermal unit (Cansolar from Newfoundland) and a high efficiency Italian wood stove. In summer, a three foot wide upper 'deck' blocks the sun from overheating and opened screened deck doors and windows make a natural and wonderful ventilation. While not highly regarded among architects it's one of the most beautiful and inexpensively constructed home I know of. Low upfront carbon & next to no operational heating cost. Do a lot of the new Passiv design seems to ignore these effective 'good enough' designs.
I need to send your substack to architects in Guyana (South America), they copy all the wrong stuff from developed countries.
"...Power outages will increase in the future, especially during heat waves..."
Thanks to political and ideological stupidity.
"Conditions are similar in much of North America, where many homes and apartments lack air conditioning and are now suffering in the summer."
From Perplexity:
"- 10%–13% of U.S. homes have no air conditioning at all.
- About 70% have central AC; the remainder often rely on window units or other less effective cooling methods."
Perplexity also noted that it is the Northwest and Northern New England, due to our milder climates, have less A/C implementations and making up a substantial number of that 10-13% number.
^ Exhibit A in political and ideological stupidity.
Well done! Shading starts with good orientation of homes and urban design with tall narrow alleys and streets. Moveable shades - toldos. Tod Neubauer helped us develop the microclimate based building code for the city of Davis in the 1970s
https://www.ecomena.org/traditional-natural-cooling-techniques-1/. David Bainbridge
If you’re interested in natural shading techniques, check out this one: Forestiere Underground Gardens. It’s located east of California State Route 99 in Fresno in the central San Joaquin Valley, easily accessible using the Shaw Avenue exit. Here’s the link: https://undergroundgardens.com/
I’ve seen this latest iteration of solar protection and wondered first if that was what it actually was and second did it actually work, thank you for the clarification. We have the benefit in our remodeled 1950 rambler of green space on all sides with the back and sides shaded much of the day though openings in the green canopy allow direct sunlight for a part of the day. This leaves us with a clear micro climate difference between our front yard and our back. We close the house up on the side facing the front yard and the morning sun and open it much of the day to the cooler shaded back yard. Humidity is often the decisive element that pushes us to turn on the ac.