[Greenbuilding] Passive Solar and HVR/ERV systems

[Corwyn]

On Feb 23, 2007, at 14:40, Ian Albinson wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Does anyone here have experience with passive heating and cooling?

Yes.  :-)

> I'm planning to build a super-insulated 2000 sq.-ft house in Vermont,
> and would like to find out if a passive system will be enough to keep
> the indoor temp pleasant throughout the year.

That's a tall order.  Getting enough sun in the  cloudy days of 
December in Vermont can be tough.  Getting close and making up the last 
little bit with a woodstove or whatever, is reasonably easy.  You 
should be able to easily make a house which with passive and some 
active, only requires about 1/2 cord of wood to heat.  This is less 
than lots of people use for ambiance.  You should be thinking about a 
lot of thermal mass.

> The house will be south facing on the site, and use a large bank of
> triple pane low-e windows for solar collection.

You might be better off with windows that allow more solar gain in, 
than triple pane lo-e.  I use double pane on my south facing windows 
(triple elsewhere).  Single pane with insulated shutters that you shut 
every night would be an even better option.  Also make sure you get the 
right kind of lo-e.  This is one of the decisions you will  need to 
make based on your individual circumstances.  We here can help, but I 
expect you will eventually need to either hire a consultant or learn 
what you need for yourself.  Contact me off list if you would like me 
to run some preliminary numbers for you.

> I'm also looking into  the possibility of a solar hot water system.

By all means, one of the best bangs for your renewable energy dollar.  
Properly done it can also increase you space heating (by heating your 
thermal mass).

Thank You Kindly,

Corwyn

-- 
Corwyn
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
corwyn at greenfret.com