7 Comments

1. 
   user-1068982 | Mar 30, 2018 12:52pm | #1

   Nice
   I suspect the 'solar house' theory justifying large expanses of glass might not be entirely unconnected with the post WW2 modernist movement in the USA, trying to justify their use of large expanses of glass with a technical rationalization. But it is just a half baked theory... needs some scholarly research. :)

2. Expert Member
   MALCOLM TAYLOR | Mar 30, 2018 02:55pm | #2

   Half-baked theory?
   More likely fully-baked with that amount of glazing!

3. 
   charlie_sullivan | Apr 01, 2018 07:44am | #3

   Machine age
   Just a footnote on the machine age: The term was used mostly from 1925 to 1950, according to a Google ngram search. From our perspective now, it might seem that by 1940, machines were no longer exciting and new, but machine technology was still advancing fast. The next major age was the atomic age, which became notorious a few months after the April 1945 article. Arguably electronics was also an important and rapidly advancing technology during this period, but "electronic age" wasn't mentioned much until after about 1950. As of April 1945, equating miraculous high technology with machines may have sounded right.

4. 
   Trevor_Lambert | Apr 03, 2018 11:11pm | #4

   Is it just me, or does it
   Is it just me, or does it look like the dog in that picture is thinking, "Wtf is all this bs?"

5. 
   Beideck | Apr 04, 2018 09:36am | #5

   History
   Thanks for the article on the history of passive solar. There have been growing pains over the years for sure. However, we've learned some lessons and passive solar is very under utilized, in my opinion. My own passive solar home in Vermont hasn't needed any additional heat for well over two weeks during a time when the outside temp has been below 50F roughly 95% of the time and under 40F the majority of the time. In a typical year, my 2000 ft^2 home needs just 1 cord of wood, sometime less, to heat in addition to the free passive solar.

6. 
   FrontierEnergy | Apr 04, 2018 05:36pm | #6

   Lots of history stored in my attic
   The evolution of passive solar here in CA went from lots of solar glazing coupled with appropriate shading and thermal mass, to the recognition that even low-e windows lose and gain a lot of heat. Automatic external shades, and clever things like filling the void between glass with styrofoam beads using a reversible vacuum just didn't gain traction. Now passive design means super-tight construction (that requires more mechanical ventilation per 62.2-2016) and minimal glazing. Instead of heat from this sun, it's from people and appliances. I don't know if it's still available in some libraries, but William Shurcliff's "Solar Heated Buildings - A Brief Survey" makes for some fun reading for history buffs. Anyone want some boxes of passive and active solar stuff?

7. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Apr 16, 2018 08:00am | #7

   Response to Daniel Beideck (Comment #5)
   Daniel,
   Congratulations on building a house that requires only one cord of wood annually in Vermont. That's good. Your approach -- a variation, it sounds like, on the traditional passive solar approach -- can work well, especially for builders who pay attention to air sealing and insulation details.

   Recent research confirms, however, that it isn't that hard to build a house in Vermont that requires only one cord of firewood per year, even if the house doesn't include large expanses of south-facing glazing. The key to low energy bills is airtight construction, high R-values, and windows with a low U-factor. If you include these features, you won't need to include the large areas of south-facing glazing advocated in the late 1970s.