In the autumn of 2002, 14 universities built solar houses on the National Mall in Washington, DC, in a student competition—the Solar Decathlon—demonstrating that homes can derive all the energy they need from the sun and celebrating advances in solar buildings. This paper describes recent progress in solar building technology that expands the designer’s palette and holds the potential to radically improve building energy performance. The discussion includes market conditions and solar resource data; design integration and modeling; window technology, daylighting, passive solar heating; solar water heating; solar ventilation air preheating; building-integrated photovoltaics; and solar cooling. The Solar Decathlon competition highlighted ways in which these strategies are integrated in successful solar buildings.
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e-mail: Andy_Walker@nrel.gov
e-mail: David_Renne@nrel.gov
e-mail: Susan_Bilo@nrel.gov
e-mail: Chuck_Kutscher@nrel.gov
e-mail: Jay_Burch@nrel.gov
e-mail: Doug_Balcomb@nrel.gov
e-mail: Ron_Judkoff@nrel.gov
e-mail: Cecile_Warner@nrel.gov
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August 2003
Technical Papers
Advances in Solar Buildings
Andy Walker,
e-mail: Andy_Walker@nrel.gov
Andy Walker
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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David Renne´,
e-mail: David_Renne@nrel.gov
David Renne´
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Susan Bilo,
e-mail: Susan_Bilo@nrel.gov
Susan Bilo
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Chuck Kutscher,
e-mail: Chuck_Kutscher@nrel.gov
Chuck Kutscher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Jay Burch,
e-mail: Jay_Burch@nrel.gov
Jay Burch
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Doug Balcomb,
e-mail: Doug_Balcomb@nrel.gov
Doug Balcomb
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Ron Judkoff,
e-mail: Ron_Judkoff@nrel.gov
Ron Judkoff
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Cecile Warner,
e-mail: Cecile_Warner@nrel.gov
Cecile Warner
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
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Richard J. King,
Richard J. King
Solar Energy Technology Program, EE-2A, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585
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Patrina Eiffert
Patrina Eiffert
Imaginit Inc., 121 Mistletoe Road, Golden, CO 80401
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Andy Walker
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Andy_Walker@nrel.gov
David Renne´
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: David_Renne@nrel.gov
Susan Bilo
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Susan_Bilo@nrel.gov
Chuck Kutscher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Chuck_Kutscher@nrel.gov
Jay Burch
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Jay_Burch@nrel.gov
Doug Balcomb
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Doug_Balcomb@nrel.gov
Ron Judkoff
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Ron_Judkoff@nrel.gov
Cecile Warner
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
e-mail: Cecile_Warner@nrel.gov
Richard J. King
Solar Energy Technology Program, EE-2A, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585
Patrina Eiffert
Imaginit Inc., 121 Mistletoe Road, Golden, CO 80401
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, December 2002; final revision, March 2003. Associate Editor: A. Reddy.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2003, 125(3): 236-244 (9 pages)
Published Online: August 4, 2003
Article history
Received:
December 1, 2002
Revised:
March 1, 2003
Online:
August 4, 2003
Citation
Walker, A., Renne´, D., Bilo, S., Kutscher, C., Burch, J., Balcomb, D., Judkoff, R., Warner, C., King, R. J., and Eiffert, P. (August 4, 2003). "Advances in Solar Buildings ." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2003; 125(3): 236–244. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1592537
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