Passive Solar Floor Plans

Best Places to Look Online for Passive Solar New Home Floor Plans

A Passive Solar floor plan should be carefully designed to:

- Have more windows on the south facing portion of the home

- Move "heat generating" rooms like the kitchen at the rear of the home

- Be longer "east to west" than "north to south"

Here are some great places to search for your new Passive Solar Home!

Sun Plans - Passive Solar Plans

About 100 Passive Solar plans, with more designs in the works.  1200 to 3400 sq ft, some designs with daylight basements or three car garages.  Each plan includes the percentage of window glass on the south facing side.  Sun Plans even grades plans by "simple" to "complex" to help with cost considerations.

View Passive Solar Plans at Sun Plans

Architectural House Plans - Passive Solar Plans

Includes a segment of Passive Solar floor plans.  Currently at 39 plans, from 1100 sq ft to 3300 sq ft.  Architectural House Plans includes a brief bio on each architect, nice feature to have as passive solar design is heavily dependent on the skill of the architect!

View Passive Solar Plans at Architectural House Plans

Americas Best House Plans - Passive Solar Plans

Currently includes 30 Passive Solar plans, with quite a bit of information about each plan.  Size ranges from 1100 to 2900 sq ft.  Floor plans include conservation guide tailored to each.

View Passive Solar Plans at Americas Best House Plans

Energy Center Appalachian State University - Affordable Passive Solar Plans

The Appalachian State University Energy Center has gathered a collection of affordable passive solar plans, featuring homes from 900 to 1100 sq ft.   Each of these homes features 6-11% of the floor area as south facing glazing, 2 foot overhangs, and slab on grade construction with incorporated thermal mass. As recommended for passive solar homes, the main living areas are on the south side of the home.

View Affordable Passive Solar Plans at the Energy Center

The Plan Collection - Passive Solar Plans

Total of 42 passive solar floor plans, from 1000 sq ft to 4700 sq ft.  Mixture of newer and older floor plans. 

View Passive Solar Plans at The Plan Collection

 Find out more about Passive Solar

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What is Passive Solar?

How Can Passive Solar Elements Be Included in Your New Home?

A passive solar home can obtain some or even all of it's heating and cooling from the sun, using a variety of materials and construction concepts.

Does a Passive Solar home use solar panels?

A Passive Solar home uses the windows, walls, and floor to collect heat in the winter and reject heat in the summer.  Solar photovoltaic power can be added, but is not required for a home to be defined as "passive solar". 

A Passive Solar home can be almost entirely heated by the sun, or can simply have south-facing windows that provide some fraction of the home's heat. 

What are the Five Basic Passive Solar Principles?

1. Orientation - Passive Solar Homes

Just remember - it's warmer in the South.  Making sure a home is facing towards the south is very important in a passive solar design.  A passive solar home is also designed to be "longer", stretching from east to west, in order to take more advantage of the sun.

Garages, laundry rooms, and other "lower usage" rooms are often placed on the east or west side of the home.  The kitchen is often placed on the northern side of the home, as it generates it's own heat.  And large, commonly used living spaces are placed on the south side of the home. 

2.  Overhangs and Shading - Passive Solar Homes

Shade is used to keep sun OFF the windows in the summer, and ON the windows in the winter.  Remember, the sun is high overhead in the summer, but follows a lower, southern arc in the winter.

Trees, vines, shrubs, and other landscaping can also help keep the home cool in summer.  And window coverings are very important to keep heat out in the warm weather - including skylight covers!

3.  Insulation - Passive Solar Homes

Insulation helps keep heat IN on cold days, and OUT on warm days.  The right kind of insulation is doubly important in a passive solar home.

Consider an all-inclusive systems approach to insulation like Energy Wise.  No matter what type of insulation is used, proper installation is very important. 

4.  Windows - Passive Solar Homes

Windows are an important part of solar design.  A correctly designed passive solar home will include the majority of windows on the south side of the home, to collect that important winter heat.  However, too many windows can prevent the home from staying cool in the summer!

Remember those window shades and covers too.  In a passive solar home, insulated window coverings are worth the investment.

5.  Thermal Mass - Passive Solar Homes

Sit on a brick wall during the summer - it's warm, right?  Materials like brick, stone, tile, and concrete collect heat, but also work well to distribute heat (or cool) temperatures throughout the day and night.

A well-designed thermal mass can include a large stone or brick fireplace, a thick concrete floor (called a Solar Slab), tile or brick flooring, or even a masonry or concrete wall.

Browse Passive Solar Floor Plans Here

Interested in a Passive Solar Home in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area?  Call 919-278-8070, or request more information today!

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