International Journal of Engineering and Technical Research (IJETR)
ISSN: 2321-0869, Volume-2, Issue-5, May 2014
Passive Solar Building Design
Shirish Sharma, Sukhchain Singh, Sukhwinder Singh
other renewable sources of energy to provide household
Abstract In passive solar building design, windows, walls, heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, thereby reducing
and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar or removing the need for mechanical heating or cooling.
energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in Temperature fluctuations, improving indoor air quality and
the summer. Since mechanical and electrical devices are not making a home drier and more enjoyable to live in is also
used, as they are in active solar heating systems, this is called
what the passive design can achieve easily.
passive solar design or climatic design.
The key factor in designing a passive solar building design is Passive solar heating techniques generally fall into one of
the local climate so that the elements to be considered in three categories: direct gain, indirect gain, and isolated gain 1.
construction include window placement and glazing Direct gain is solar radiation that directly penetrates and is
type, thermal insulation, thermal mass, and shading can yield
stored in the living space. Indirect gain collects, stores, and
maximum benefits.
The levels of application are pragmatic, annualised, minimum
distributes solar radiation using some thermal storage
machinery and zero-energy building. material. Conduction, radiation, or convection then transfers
The 47-degree difference in the altitude of the sun at solar the energy indoors. Isolated gain systems (e.g., sunspace)
noon between winter and summer forms the basis of passive collect solar radiation in an area that can be selectively closed
solar design. This information is combined with local climatic off or opened to the rest of the house.
data (degree day) heating and cooling requirements to
determine at what time of the year solar gain will be beneficial
for thermal comfort, and when it should be blocked with II. FEATURES OF PASSIVE SOLAR BUILDINGS
shading. By strategic placement of items such as glazing and
shading devices, the percent of solar gain entering a building
can be controlled throughout the year. The key features of passive solar building are the solar
With this information available with us, a case study was access, orientation of the building, thermal mass, ventilation,
carried out in Chandigarh and the current implementation of shading and insulation 2. This list, although, covers majority
such techniques was studied. As passive solar design of the factors, yet, is not exhaustive. A lot of improvisations
techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings, but can be made according to the local climate to maximise the
existing buildings can be adapted or "retrofitted", we would gains that reduce the use of mechanical or electrical
focus on developing methods so that this practice can be used temperature control.
for maximum utilization of the conditions.
The first step is to obtain the solar access in a manner that
solar gain and natural lighting can be optimally used.
Index Terms Passive solar design, zero-energy building, Chandigarh being a planned city and considering that, more
retrofitting or less, the construction of houses has reached its level of
saturation, does not experience this freedom. Still,
technically, the major axis should lie along the east west
I. INTRODUCTION boundary and the north light that enters the house is the most
beneficial orientation.
Over the last decade, there has been a lot of pressure on
energy consumption in domestic households. Also, since the Other features, bearing equal importance, such as ventilation
amount of devices that our daily needs have begun to require, for temperature maintenance, thermal mass for heat
the concern is quite reasonable. One of the best ways to help distribution and shading for admitting adequate light
combat this load on urban households is solar passive according to the variation in solar position over the seasons
building. Principally, what passive design achieves is to also are to be adequately incorporated in the building.
utilise the site location by responding to the local climate and However, it must be kept in mind that these features must be
by doing so, it maximises the comfort of the people inside the kept in purview of the building holistically. Since these are
building and reducing the energy consumption. It does so by not exclusive of each other, it cannot be said for sure that the
utilising the natural and free factors such as wind, sun and greater implementation of either of them will reinforce the
effect of other. The situation may be quite the opposite in
certain cases as one may observe. For example, bigger size of
Manuscript received May 10, 2014.
the doors and windows makes sure that more ventilation of
Shirish Sharma, Student, Department of Electronics and Communication breeze and air ensures greater ventilation. However, it also
Engineering, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh, India allows a greater noise to be allowed inside the house. So, the
Sukhchain Singh, Student, 2Department of Aerospace Engineering, PEC rooms not sensitive to noise must be positioned in such areas.
University of Technology, Chandigarh, India
Sukhwinder Singh, Mentor, Department of Electronics and
Communication Engineering, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh,
India
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Passive Solar Building Design
Another example to illustrate this is the use of large windows Thermal mass can take numerous forms inside a house
that allow large amount of natural light may also result in depending upon the ease of access of incorporation. In the
large heat gain. This, if the light falls on thermal mass may form of brick, tile or concrete floors, it is Solar Slab. Masonry
not be required in months of high temperatures in regions or concrete wall, called Trombe Wall, or water filled
such as Chandigarh that experience extreme temperature containers, called a Tube Wall, may be used to absorb heat
variations. and cool. This, however, requires southern exposure and
direct sunlight so that it is exposed for the maximum time to
direct sunlight for maximum solar gain.
III. CONSTRUCTIONAL DISCREPANCIES
Now, the passive building focuses not only on heating the V. INCORPORATING PASSIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN
house in cooler temperatures, but also to provide cooler EXISTING BUILDINGS
breeze in hotter temperatures. For latitudes that experience
such extreme climates where the average temperature Once a building has been completed, some principles may be
minimum during day time in winters can be as low as 2 added during the later upgrades, but only to an extent. That
degree Celsius and the average maximum temperature is, it may not be possible to achieve full benefits from it for
during summer months is about 40 degree Celsius, it is a obvious reasons such as it is not possible to alter the
challenge to be able to put to use a zero energy building. But orientation of an entire house after construction. But, smaller
it is important to avoid certain discrepancies that are changes such as improving insulation, altering layout of a
included only to reinforce the effects that we hope to counter. room or introducing eaves to shade the summer sun can lead
to great results in the energy efficiency of the house.
To get the right answer all we have to do is to ask the correct
question, simply. What are the reasons that some houses get Existing building can largely benefit from improving
too hot? The reasons lying in construction of these houses insulation using retrofits. Even though it is easier and
that include plain slip-ups as heat gain through windows cheaper to include insulation in new homes, retrofits do
unshaded for summer sun, roofs and clerestory windows; prove to be useful. Considering our focus on the urban
inadequate ventilation and lightweight construction with low Chandigarh region where construction is largely dominated
thermal mass. by concrete and masonry, to say that Concrete Slab flooring
and in-situ concrete walls already exist may not be entirely
Similar reasons can be cited as to why some houses are very
incorrect. Better still, other methods of insulation can be put
cold i.e. windows shaded from the sun in winters, inadequate
to use in structures to improve the existing scenario and
insulation in the floor, heat loss from ill-insulated roofs and
reduce the overuse of electrical temperature control that we
gaps around the doors and windows that add up to the cooling
have seen in the region. These include application of EIFS
factors3. As we can see that these mistakes are not ones that
cladding system externally or pumping loose fill or foam
require elaborate undermining of logic, the solutions are also
through holes into the wall space in the lining so far as the
not very difficult to find. All we need to do is to club all such
walls are considered as walls account for a majority of heat
solutions under one manual what we call as passive solar
loss.
building.
Improving the thermal resistance of an existing concrete slab
on the ground is not usually a practical option. If renovations
IV. EFFECT OF USE OF THERMAL MASS STRUCTURE
are to be carried out (provided there is sufficient ceiling
height within the space), one option is to cover the existing
Thermal mass can be said to be that one factor that can be the slab with a polythene membrane, 25 mm thick polystyrene
key to differentiate a passive solar designed house from an board and a 75 mm (minimum) thick topping slab. The new
ordinary tract house. The principle of its use is simple. If the concrete must be isolated by a damp-proof membrane from
heat gain from the solar access needs to be utilised when the existing timber framing to prevent moisture from the
sunlight present cannot directly alter the temperature inside concrete being absorbed by the timber. Alternatively,
the house, the heat gain must be stored. Any solid or liquid installing carpet and underlay will reduce the heat loss
material that stores this heat in any form is said to be thermal through an existing floor.
mass inside the house which may be as simple as masonry or
water which has a better capability then air around to store Also, minor constructional amendments such as introduction
the thermal utilities. of eaves on windows of appropriate depth so as to be able to
To understand how this thermal mass works, one may shade the summer sun and admit the sunlight from winter
observe that during the day hours when sunlight is directly sun can make changes visibly in the temperature control that
incident on the thermal mass, it stores this heat assn solar we manage. For a 2 meter high window in the latitude of
gain. However, the temperature maintenance is brought Chandigarh, all we need is a 0.9m length of eave to make
about directly by the radiations. During the time when the sure that the 40 degree difference between the solar path of
sun has set and the temperatures tend to drop, this thermal summer sun and winter sun is brought to effect 4 . Simple
mass starts to release heat stored and maintains the comfort techniques such as enlarging the size of windows may
level. It is only during the early morning hours that the improve the quality of natural light that is admitted during
thermal mass may require a supplement heating to provide the day to reduce the use of artificial lighting. However, it
for the temperature drop that has set in.
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International Journal of Engineering and Technical Research (IJETR)
ISSN: 2321-0869, Volume-2, Issue-5, May 2014
may also require insulation to a greater effect as heat loss one hand, we have the knowledge and resources to put it to
through windows is a major factor. use in the newly developing areas in our neighbourhood, we
also have the choice to improve upon the existing homes
It takes more thought to design with the sun; however,
passive solar features such as additional glazing, added
thermal mass, larger roof overhangs, or other shading
REFERENCES
features can pay for themselves. Since passive solar designs
require substantially less mechanical heating and cooling
[1] Office of building technology, State and Community Programs energy
capacity, savings can accrue from reduced unit size, efficiency and Renewable Energy, US DOE
installation, operation, and maintenance costs. Passive solar [2] www.level.org.nz
design techniques may therefore have a higher first cost but [3] http://www.level.org.nz/fileadmin/downloads/Passive_Design/LevelDiagra
m5.pdf
are often less expensive when the lower annual energy and [4] http://www.ecowho.com/tools/passive_solar_eaves_calculator.php
maintenance costs are factored in over the life of the [5] Department of Renewable Energy/ HAREDA
building. (http://www.hareda.gov.in/?model=pages&nid=31
VI. CASE STUDY
The Department of Renewable Energy/ HAREDA has
constructed its office in Panchkula that covers an area of
55,000 sq.ft. This building is the first one to achieve Energy
Autonomy by using techniques that incorporate all concepts
of passive building design. It shall be the first building in the
Government sector which is being constructed in
Compliance with the Energy Conservation Building Codes
(ECBC). Moreover this building shall also comply with the 5
star rating, which is the highest rating of GRIHA rating
systems for Green buildings of Govt. of India.
This building is being constructed based on solar passive
design techniques having Building Integrated Photovoltaic
(BIPV) system of 42.50 KW capacity, Solar Chimney,
evaporative cooling, cavity walls, Use of Fly ash based bricks
water recycling and Energy Efficient Lighting etc. The
incorporation of these features will result in achieving an
internal temperature of about 28 deg. Centigrade without Air
Conditioning. The energy consumption in this building is
estimated to be about 30 kWhr/m2/year in comparison to the
consumption of about 200 kWhr/m2/year for the existing air
conditioned buildings.
No municipal water supply is required after the first monsoon
with the 6.5 lacs litre underground tank that has been
optimized for rainwater harvesting and consumption pattern
of the building. Optimization of installed load shall be about
55 kW only. This will be the one of its own kind of building
with 25% reduced lighting energy need and Annual Energy
Consumption at 3.48 units per sq, ft. against 18.5 units per
sq. ft. of a conventional building5.
VII. CONCLUSION
As we can see that a building with staggering energy
efficiency statistics can be conceptualised in the same region
as that of the Chandigarh region, passive solar design is a
concept that holds the key to energy efficient homes.
Considering the unnecessary use of electrical lighting,
heating and temperature control that we put to use owing to
the extreme climatic conditions in the region, all structural
discrepancies may be handles using simple techniques. If on
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