The first comprehensive study of the development of solar house design in the United States and around the world. The Solar House explores the development of solar residential architecture over the course of the twentieth century and up to the latest designs today. The solar house is often understood as a product of the 1970s, and few people are aware of the influential experimental solar houses which were constructed during the previous four decades, beginning with the work of masters of twentieth-century architecture such as Richard Neutra, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paolo Soleri, Louis Kahn, Pietro Belluschi, Edward Durell Stone, and Harwell Hamilton Harris, and continuing with more recent innovations like the German Passivhaus movement and the Heliotrope, the first house to produce more energy than it consumed, and the U.S.-based Solar Decathlon, conceived as a living demonstration laboratory and recently expanded to include contests in Europe and China. Not only are these innovative projects the models for architects exploring environmentally conscious design today, they hold the imagination of the wider public, beginning with the idealism of the 1960s, the pragmatism that accompanied the energy crisis of the 1970s, and continuing into the twenty-first century with the demand for environmentally sustainable living. The first complete study of solar house design through the decades, this volume is a must-have resource for designers today.

While heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved. Yet "natural conditioning"--Heating and cooling with passive solar techniques -- is a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, the author highlights certain egregious errors and shows how to avoid them. The author shows how to select a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly backup heating system; how to preserve indoor air quality in an airtight, energy-efficient home; and ways of employing green building materials in a naturally conditioned home.

Covering the full life span of the project, from siting issues through specific design features to maintenance of the property and equipment, this is a comprehensive guide to designing, planning and building a solar house. The author uses his experience of living in a solar house to inform the reader of the technology and practices needed for the design, operation and maintenance of the solar home. Each of the technologies of the house, such as space heating and cooling, domestic hot water and electric power technologies, are critiqued from the point of view of the owner/resident, with the author using his thirty years experience of living in a solar home. This provides home owners who are thinking of going solar with first hand evidence of best practice, and provides the architect and designer with the knowledge of how to best satisfy their clients needs.

Revised and Expanded Edition - Includes CD-ROM with Custom Design Software For the past ten years The Passive Solar House has offered proven techniques for building homes that heat and cool themselves, using readily available materials and methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourself homeowners. True to this innovative, straightforward approach, the new edition of this best-selling guide includes CSOL passive solar design software, making it easier than ever to heat your home with the power of the sun. Since The Passive Solar House was first published, passive solar construction expert James Kachadorian has perfected user-friendly, Windows-compatible software to supplement the design process explained in the book by allowing homeowners/designers to enter the specifications of their design and see how changing a variable will affect its energy efficiency. This is the building book for a world of climbing energy costs. Applicable to diverse regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian's techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design into practical wisdom for today's solar builders. Profiles of successful passive solar design, construction, and retrofit projects from readers of the first edition provide inspiration to first-time homebuilders and renovators alike.

Anyone who has been in a solar house, on a cold winter day has felt thearmth and comfort of its natural radiant heat. In 1958, solar pioneer Peteran Dresser built his first solar-heated house, one of the two oldest in thenited States. In this book van Dresser lays out in text and illustration therinciples an owner builder will need to know in siting, designing, buildingnd living in their solar house. Several sample house plans, ideas for solarot water heaters, and plans for solar crop dryers give the solar enthusiasthe basic information they will need to begin plans on their efficient home.his book shows that solar energy can be economically harnessed by simpleeans. Means that are within the grasp of the average homeowner and builder.

"'A House in the Sun' describes a number of solar house experiments in the 1940s and 1950s. The houses relied on the materials and ideas of modern architecture for both energy efficiency and claims to cultural relevance, and also developed out of a growing concern over global resource limits"--Provided by publisher.

New methods of breaking into corporate networks are resulting in major losses. This book provides the latest information on how to guard against attacks and inform the IT manager of the products that can detect and prevent break-ins. Methods for authentication and encryption are explained, enabling the reader to understand when and where these developments apply. The latest incident handling procedures for detecting and recovering data from new viruses, in order to protect against major losses for corporations, are also included.