Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #268274 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 210 pages

From Library Journal
Published in concert with the Real Goods Trading Company of California, this book explains in detail the whys and wherefores of a particular form of passive solar design, formerly patented but now in the public domain. The patent was held by the author and used while he was president of Green Mountain Homes, a fabricator of post-and-beam kit homes. The science he used and describes here is settled and elegant, even quaint, and is detailed to a degree that could be off-putting to some readers. On the bright side, the enthusiasm he brings to the subject is useful, even to those prospective homebuilders who may not be interested in solar heating and cooling. The book is suffused with a sensitivity to environmental issues of all sorts, a useful perspective in these resource-limited times. An essentially simple book, elegant in presentation and forceful in argument; recommended for extensive scientific (for the references and associated calculations) and/or broader home-building collections.?Alexander Hartmann, INFOPHILE, Williamsport, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Card catalog description
This book offers a technique for building homes that heat and cool themselves in a wide range of different climates, using ordinary building materials available anywhere and with methods familiar to all building contractors and many do-it-yourselfers. A formerly patented design for author James Kachadorian's Solar Slab heat exchanger is now available for the use of anyone motivated by the desire to build a house that needs a backup furnace or air conditioner rarely if ever. This is a building book for the next century. Applicable to a diversity of regions, climates, budgets, and styles of architecture, Kachadorian's techniques translate the essentials of timeless solar design (siting a home in harmony with nature, using windows as solar collectors, achieving year-round comfort by balancing good insulation with healthy supplies of fresh air) into practical wisdom for today's new generation of solar builders.

From the Author
I Am The Author

It's been 3 1/2 years since THE PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE hit the bookstores and I've been pleased with its reception. The book was written as a "gift" to the public as I realized that the design techniques I used were known only to me. The book has accomplished the goal of having readers of all disciplines read and grasp the theory and go on to design their own solar homes or hire a professional to assist them. Sometimes a little assistance is needed from me but I see the book working as intended.

It's been 25 years since I built the prototype of the system. That building served as my model home and office while I was in the business of designing and shipping solar homes in "kit" form. The building still works like a charm for its new owner.

I've lived in my solar home for 21 years. No problems as the laws of physics are hard to defy. It still amazes me how shortsighted our government's energy policies are. For the last 25 years I have purchased the small amount of fuel oil I need for the year in August when fuel oil prices are at their lowest. I've already made 50% on this year's purchase and the heat season hasn't even begun. It's a nice and secure feeling to be able to heat my home entirely with alternate fuels; or if I chose, to use my back-up oil fired system. My solar home gives me the freedom to plan my purchased energy management to use the least amount possible and obtain the lowest price.

If you decide to purchase the book, I hope you'll find it useful in designing and building your new home to utilize our finite resources in the best way possible and best of all: capturing and storing free solar heat.

Customer Reviews

disappointed !
a very disappointed old book ! a book from the seventies! very few pictures, many boards for american countries. Solar means, for me, interest for nature and for health. technical solutions suggested are not for health ! technik will kill us. let's us go to more simplicity !

Deftly presenting a "reader friendly" study of the solar power conversion process
The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design To Heat And Cool Your Home by civil engineering and solar home expert James Kachadorian is an informed and informative guide to the complexities involved in converting a building to the effective, environmentally friendly, financially beneficial technology of solar power. Deftly presenting a "reader friendly" study of the solar power conversion process, The Passive Solar House covers such relevant issues as equipment and insulation requirements for a designing and adapting solar powered house; "sun spaces"; heating and cooling requirement; insulation, venting, and fresh air; basic layouts and floor plans; interior design for year around comfort, and more. A welcome addition to personal, community library, and academic library Architectural Studies reference collections, The Passive Solar House is very strongly recommended for non-specialist general readers searching for a comprehensive introduction to creating a solar powered home in any urban or rural climate zone or region of the country.

Great reference and... IT WORKS!
My father found this book and used it, in the Southwest, to design his passive solar heating/cooling system. I am in the process of doing the same. In the winter he needs only a few cords of pine to heat a large 2 story house and in the summer, while I swelter in an appartment w/only North facing glass (!!!), his house is very cool and comfortable. The few negative reviews above appear to be from folks who either didn't pay attention as they read or have pie-in-the-sky "theories" of what passive solar really can do for you. Kachadorian is an engineer and very pragmatic. He is not a "green" builder so keep that in mind. His system works very well in real conditions and does so in a cost effective manner if you do the calculations which are all at about the 7th grade level. Id recommend building them in a spreadsheet- easy to do and lets you "tweak" your design as you go along. Honestly, even if you don't use his system, his calculations are very worth while to design in adequate thermal mass and back-up heating into any house.

Good luck!