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The climate zones relate to those in the International Residential Code. There
are 18 climate zones in the United States that address requirements for Canada
and Alaska too in all but the coldest regions. Zone 18 is the coldest. The lower
edge of the southern states are around 30 degrees north while the northern edge
adjacent to Canada is around 50 degrees north. The following comments are listed
from coldest to warmest climates.
"The sun is very low in the sky from Nov. thru Jan. I'm hoping to catch
whatever sun heat that is available in the rock-covered block walls. ….The basement
is nice and cool - feels like it's air-conditioned, especially on hot days like
we've been having. It'll make a perfect cellar for root vegetables and wine!...I'm
very impressed at how easy it is to regulate the temperature in the house. All
we have to do is open a couple of windows to get the air circulating to cool
down the house. We don't even have to turn on a fan. The warmest it has gotten
in the house is 75 degrees, which is HOT to us Alaskans. The thermostat has
been set at 60 degrees since April. The basement thermostat is set at 50, and
the warmest it's gotten is 60 degrees…. The window in the upstairs bedroom is
the old-fashioned kind that opens out into the atrium space. That bedroom gets
quite warm on spring/summer/fall evenings, so it'll be nice to be able to circulate
that warm air back to the rest of the house. …. I expect to get the most energy
benefits of passive solar in the spring (Feb.-May), and in the fall (Aug.-Nov.),
when the sun is high enough to heat the tile and slab…. The warmest room in
the house the past two months (June, July) has been the morning room, because
the sun hits that room first thing in the morning, and throughout the afternoon
until about 5 p.m." Garden Atrium, Steve & Peggy, Latitude 61º North, IRC
Climate Zone 17
"We are in our new house and love it. Thank you again for a wonderful design!"
Four Seasons 6, Frank & Jean Marie Latitude 42.5º North, IRC Climate Zone 15
"We moved in February, and found the house comfortable, with nice direct sunlight.
We oriented the house exactly as outlined in your plans. The house stays wonderfully
cool in the summer - that's been a really pleasant surprise. We open the Atrium
windows at night, and in the morning the whole house is crisp, despite some
very muggy and hot days and nights. All in all, climactically it has been great.
And, aesthetically, it's beautiful! We got lots of comments about how unique
it is, and I'm always amazed when people try to come up with what "type" of
house it is. I use that moment to wax on about the passive solar design." Atrium,
Laura and Ian, Latitude 44º North, IRC Climate Zone 15
After frequent construction visits and upon moving in, the homeowner stated:
"So far, the house is working exactly as it's supposed to! We've had some hot
days where the lovely shaded porches are delightful... and the cool breezes
through the house at night make for great sleeping. " The wonderful prairie
views are pleasant for people and pets who like to sit in front of the south
windows. Prairie Dog, Latitude 41º North, IRC Climate Zone 15
"We are enjoying our new home. It is so comfortable! It's a little hard to
judge the energy costs based on this mild winter, but thus far, we seem to be
doing quite w ell. We only ran the air conditioning 3 or 4 times the whole summer
and that was primarily due to humidity." The outside is a creative mix of colorful
stucco and a green metal roof. Northern Lights 3, Victor & Regina, Latitude
42º North, IRC Climate Zone 14
"Between the sun, the woodstove and the Icynene insulation - we've got a toasty
home this winter!" Sun Dance 5, Laura and Scott, Latitude 42º North, IRC Climate
Zone 14
"Maggie was at the home yesterday at noon to see where the sun beams cast across
the floor, she said the house direction is 29 minutes off of having the sun
light cast straight across the floor. Hey, that's pretty darn close for me.
We had to tell our builder that we did not want his 100,000btu furnace and Maggie
and I painstakingly went through all the calculations to spec the furnace (back
up heat) we needed. Our builder and all involved still don't believe we specified
a 40,000btu but the smallest the builder would put in or get was a 60,000 95.5%
high efficiency gas furnace." Comments after they moved in: "The passive
solar is great, love those cold winter days that are sunny, the furnace never
cycles. As a matter of fact the bedrooms on the second floor actually get mighty
warm. I have snow all over my roof this time of year whereas my neighbors do
not, thanks to the R50 insulation in the ceilings. I could go on and on. I was
just a bit skeptical about this passive solar stuff, all I know is that it works
for me." The architect asks: "Is the upstairs too hot in summer?"
"Not really. The upstairs actually gets hot in March/April and then October/November.
We only had to run ac for a few weeks towards the end of summer when it was
really humid. We have ceiling fans in every room and in the bridge hallway to
help move the air this winter. The back of the house (with the help of the surveyor)
faces south with the exact pivot to get maximum sun exposure. I can work with
hot, it's called open a window. The other thing is to keep a curtain closed
to block the sunlight. With all-the-all-the, that has to be done with moving
into a new home, we are working on installing "warm windows" thermal curtains
to help hold the heat in and block the cold. But even without any kind of thermal
drape on many of the windows, our gas bills are much lower (hundreds) than our
friends living in similar to smaller size homes. Kind of cool that we can heat
the home by just baking or cooking. This spring/early summer the plan is to
build a deck on the back of the home with some sort of slat type roof/overhang
near the lower level to compensate for not cantilevering the second floor. I
could go on and on, just kinda cool living in such an energy efficient home."
Northern Sun 3, Mark and Maggie, Latitude 41º North, IRC Climate Zone 13
"We moved into our new home last month….It is made from ICF from the ground,
up. We love it! Northern Lights 2 (Modified from CAD files), Art and Debbie,
Latitude 39º North, IRC Climate Zone 11
January 2005, Amy wrote: "We have been in our house about a month and I am
completely and totally in love. You're a brilliant architect. The house not
only works incredibly well as a passive solar marvel, but the layout is so right
for our family! The contractors come by now with their mouth wide open and confess
to me that they never thought it would work. They not only can't believe how
beautiful it looks, but they can't believe we don't have to use the heat! It
is so warm (both figuratively and literally) and so light. The light is amazing.
It's so wonderful not have to use lights in some rooms during the day. We have
used the heat twice so far--to make my mother happy over the holidays. We've
been having an unusually warm spell with temperatures in the 50s and 60s during
the day and 40s at night. In our old house, it would still be chilly all day
even on a beautiful sunny winter day. …. Now we don't even need the heat when
we have days like that. And when we have that unseasonably warm weather, we
open those doors to the screened porch and let the fresh air in!….We truly have
a house that is us. It's so welcoming and cozy. It feels like a warm blanket
wrapped around you on cold winter's day. We just love our house…. And of course
I love that it uses the sun. " Northern Sun, Tim & Amy, Latitude 38º North,
IRC Climate Zone 9
They like their "wonderful huge kitchen…outdoor views in all directions…and
the fact that we don't need lights in most rooms during the day." Their favorite
outside space is the west screened porch. The spiral stairs seems a little narrow,
but "We do like the openness it provides, however." When asked what they would
have done differently they said: "Use trusses for the roof and skip the loft
- we'd have saved BUCKETS of money!" "We are enjoying the house and the stable
temperatures that it provides….We have had many people express interest in the
design…" Roseburg Cottage, Paul & Virginia, Latitude 43º North, IRC Climate
Zone 9
"Comfort and energy costs? We just laugh every month when the bills come in!
Last year ('04) our highest elec. bill was $76.24 in Feb. and our lowest was
$33.29 in May….we heat with a Geo-thermal heat pump (that may have been over-kill),
but on sunny days, even though cold outside, the heat pump never comes on. We
were quite comfortable in the summer also. We open the windows and get a great
breeze. We also imagine that the bright "galvanized color" steel roof reflects
the sun's heat. Of course, the walls are 6". We put in all fluorescent light
bulbs. I had wanted concrete floors on the main level for thermal mass, but
the cost made me change my mind. We found a deal on poplar…That is what is used
on the floors, as trim, and on the vaulted ceiling in the living room and dining
area. It is beautiful and we get real ooh's and aah's when people come over…Our
goal for our home was for it to be cost efficient to heat and cool, for it to
be low maintenance (Hardiboard siding and standing seam steel roof), simple
in design, and wheel chair accessible features (just smart planning we think).
We feel like we accomplished our goal and just absolutely love our home." Sun
Dance 4, Dawn & Wayne, Latitude 35.5º North, IRC Climate Zone 8
"We have been pleased with the cost to operate as well as the comfort level
of the house throughout the year. The only problem with brightness is during
the winter while watching TV during the day. But we just have to pull the interior
shades." In addition, Terri added: "What a wonderful house you designed for
us! We absolutely love it. It is sunny and welcoming and a joy to come home
to each day. There is no wasted space in this design and pretty much everything
(furniture, etc.) has worked well in the space planned for it. Each room is
well lived in and used, but the openness of the plan makes it feel spacious,
too." Sun Dance 3, Anthony & Terri, Latitude 35.5º North, IRC Climate Zone
8
Electric heat pumps are often frowned upon as being insufficient to provide
comfortable heat, but Harry Boody has proved this wrong. He knows how to properly
size and design them to move large volumes of air slowly and quietly. He feels
that the quality of installation is more important than unit quality. In summer
when the humidity is high, he recommends leaving the windows closed. Janice
and Gordon only open theirs when humidity is low for several weeks in both spring
and summer. The rest of the year they are either heating or cooling to some
degree to maintain temperatures 68 degrees F in winter and 76 degrees F in summer.
They use ceiling fans in the sunroom and living room. For the past year, the
electric bills for the entire house have averaged $68 per month. The whole house
is powered by electricity and their hot water rate is half price due to off-peak
use in the summer. Northern Lights, Gordon & Janice, Latitude 36º North,
IRC Climate Zone 8
Comfort, light, and energy efficiency are the qualities that David and Susan
like best about their house. Their favorite spaces are the central dining sunspace,
master bedroom, and west screened porch. They wrote: "We enjoy the house very
much and constantly receive compliments from others who enjoy looking at it
too. Our town has had two ice storms this winter with power outages, as well
as a transformer explosion that also knocked the power out on a bitterly cold
day. We were so happy to be in this house on each occasion, with sun, solar
mass, and our wood stove keeping us very comfortable." Four Seasons 2, David
& Susan, Latitude 36ºNorth, IRC Climate Zone 7
Pam and Paul like the "open, light-filled spaces, feelings of comfort, and
energy independence. We absolutely love our passive solar house! Working with
Debbie was easy, fun and extremely successful for us. … We have lived in the
house for about 16 months. It might be helpful (for readers) to also know that
this is the very first house that we have ever had built, and neither one of
us knew the first thing about construction before the process started. I do
not think I am exaggerating when I say that Debbie made every effort to understand
what we were looking for in a design and to help us better understand the important
special aspects of passive solar design. We spent a LONG time filling out the
questionnaire that she sent--and she paid attention to every detail. There were
many changes made in the preliminary designs as we refined our ideas. Debbie
was extraordinarily patient with our changes and questions, and the final plans
were still produced by her with a minimum of delay. We exchanged LOTS of emails
and phone calls, and actually didn't have the pleasure of meeting her face-to-face
until we got to give her the tour of "her" finished house. We are especially
happy to report that we got a delicious tax break for building a passive solar
house. On top of that, our utility bills in the last year have been gratifyingly
reasonable." Solstice, Pam & Paul, Latitude 35.5º North, IRC Climate Zone
7
"We think this is one of the most exciting and interesting houses you may have
ever done. Every room is unique, and the views are great everywhere. It has
so much architectural interest that it will require very little decorating.
The views of the pond from the deck are spectacular. We cannot wait to see it
from the second floor. You are so clever."Still Water, Jane & Paul, Latitude
32º North, IRC Climate Zone 6
"A week without power and air conditioning in August in the far south
made us glad we have a sun-tempered house. The thermal mass of the house and
proper shading of east, west, and south windows allowed the interior temperatures
to stay below 78 degrees inside. We would night ventilate the house with the
cooler air, then close it up in the morning. Our passive solar hot water heater
allowed us to still have hot showersand our propane cooking stove meant we never
missed a hot meal." Even in the heat of south Alabama, passive solar and
cooling design methods can increase energy-efficiency and provide sunny interiors.
This 1½-story 2100 s.f. home has average energy bills approximately 1/2 the
energy consumption of other similarly-sized homes in the area. Most of sun-tempered
costs are for general energy-efficiency The energy features increased the construction
costs by about 4%. This includes the cellulose insulation, better windows, and
an upgrade in heating/air conditioning equipment. To borrow the extra money
increases the mortgage payment, but when this cost is subtracted from the energy
savings, the net savings are still over $100 per month compared to neighbors.
However, what we enjoy equally is the thermal stability that the home maintains
year round. Comfortable temperatures and an abundance of sunlight make the house
a delightful place to live. Southern Cypress, Dan & Debbie, Latitude 31º
North, IRC Climate Zone 4
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