Architecture and Planning ETDs

Publication Date

5-11-1973

Abstract

Increased emphasis on the limited quantity of fossil fuel reserves has aroused interest in the use of solar energy as a possible solution to the "energy crisis" facing the citizens of the world today. An architect should understand all the possible heating systems for structures in order to reduce the use of energy. Solar energy heating for houses is a field in which few architects are well versed. It has been thought of as an engineering problem, but design is a large part of finding economically feasible and adequate solutions to solar heated structures. Bright sunshine delivers to the surface about a thousand watts of radiant solar energy per square meter. Solar space and water heating mechanical system utilize this free energy from the sun to help meet domestic heating requirements. Using a flat-plate collector and a thermal storage unit as the energy source, solar heating is a possible substitute for conventional space and water heating units. Architects and engineers use heat loss calculations to determine the net output requirements of space heating systems. Reducing the heat loss of a structure lowers the requirement on the size of furnace needed. Reductions on the size of the heating system output has a much greater effect on the cost of the solar heating system than it does on a conventional heating system. Most architects understand the conventional heating systems and the ease with which they are incorporated into a domestic structure with little or no effect on its design. Solar space heating systems have been experimented with in various forms and the incorporation of the collection and storage components of the system does have an effect on the design of the structure. Designing with heat loss as one of the important criteria could lead to a solar heated house capable of economically competing with conventional heating systems. A solar design procedure for the incorporation of domestic solar space heating and water heating is provided for the architect to use in his design process. Calculating the approximate heat loss and planning the location and size of collector and storage units are included in the procedure.

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Architecture

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

School of Architecture and Planning

First Committee Member (Chair)

Robert Geoffrey Reines

Second Committee Member

Karl Thomas Feldman Jr.

Third Committee Member

Michel Louis Roger Pillet

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