ARTICLE : 10 Stages to a Passive Solar Building from Design to Build By David Thorpe

Passive solar architectural principles have come of age. They have given rise to thousands of buildings of all sizes and purposes around the world, in all climate types, to demonstrate how buildings don't need to consume fossil fuel energy to support their occupants. They can even generate more power, or absorb more carbon, than they use. Below is a ten-step guide to how to go about designing and building one.

But  first, the benefits of passive solar architecture:

• Saves energy and running costs from the start;
• Comfort in all seasons and climates;
• Safe investment and resilience into the future;
• Added value every year through decreased operation costs;
• Longer useful life with high quality standard;
• Contributes to climate change protection.

Thanks to experience of the last 30 years, we know what works in different climates in the world and build costs have reduced to the same or just slightly higher than conventional builds. But lifetime costs are considerably cheaper – on average (dependent on purpose/design) being 87.5% savings (1/8 less to run) on heating and cooling.