Passive solar design is covered in a new book, Solar Architecture in Cool Climates by Colin Porteous with Kerr MacGregor.

As its title suggests, the book is aimed at architects and engineers who are designing buildings in the higher latitudes, where there is a need to come up with an envelope design that balances the low ambient temperatures experienced throughout much of the year with the potential for overheating in warm, sunny weather.

The book considers the basic natural techniques – sometimes solar assisted – that can be used to get rid of unwanted heat as well as examining how free solar energy can make a significant impact in bridging the ‘cold gap’ even where there is cloud and rain for much of the winter.

The book borrows directly from European and North American case studies and looks at both new build and retrofitting as well as conceptual projects that give an idea of how buildings might be designed in the future.

Source

Building Sustainable Design