What is Passive Solar Technology?
No, it is not using solar panels. Most simply passive solar technology is using the structures and environment around you to decrease heat loss. At Green Seed, we take passive solar technology very seriously. From the roof to each wall, and each window we make sure that passive solar technology is used because not only does it increase the comfort of our occupants but there is no additional power that is used to implement it.
How we use it:
- More insulation in each wall: Fiberglass is about 3 times more efficient, as a thermal insulator than wood. By building our walls on a 24” layout (as opposed to a 16” layout) we have reduced their wood content by about 50%. This amounts to an R-value increase of about 133% for each unopened wall. On top of this, we use thermal break (with an equivalent R-value of 6.2) around the entire wall surface, to effectively double the thermal resistance of the studs, headers, and trimmers.
- Sealed and insulated roof cavity: In order to achieve energy efficiency in the roof area, we combine a highly insulated roof cavity with an R-13 thermal break to give the roof maximum energy efficiency. This method has the added benefit of moving the dew point outside the cavity and reducing the potential for dry rot.
- Triple pane windows: We use triple pane windows to further reduce the loss of energy.
- Radiant Heating: Building for comfort is a very important part of home design. However, air temperature is only part of the equation. It is more important to use Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) as a baseline on how the building will function. Simply, we want the air temperature and the temperature of surrounding objects to contribute equally to overall comfort (e.g., if the floor is cold and the air temperature is 80 degrees, you will still feel cold)
