Passive Solar Heating Nz

Key features of passive design.

Passive solar heating nz.

Tv computer lights etc to heat and warm our houses. It may be necessary for a passive solar building to prove compliance with the new zealand building code. The idea is we use minimal direct forms of mechanical heating or cooling to provide energy efficient heating and comfort. Passive solar design features often fall into this category.

In passive solar building design windows walls and floors are made to collect store reflect and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. New zealand is fortunate in that it has by international standards a very mild climate coupled with a good number of sunshine hours. This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. To this end passive solar design is the use of sunlight and natural air flows to respectively heat and cool a house without relying on mechanical devices heating systems and other machinery that use electricity.

Consequently passive solar design has the potential to reduce new zealand s greenhouse gas emissions. This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. Modern passive design strategies ultimately relate to how we use other forms of energy like heat from the sun heat from humans and heat from electrical appliances e g. Passive solar construction uses the sun to warm the house heat is absorbed into the building and slowly released back into the house as it cools.

New zealand s geographic location is perfect for natural heating and ventilation. The key to designing a passive solar building is. Solar panels should be placed where they will get maximum exposure to the sun. To avoid having building code compliance become an obstacle to the design aims of the building the territorial authority should be consulted early in the design process.

This usually means they ll be on a roof. Branz and other research has shown that for the majority of new zealand well integrated passive solar home design results in comfortable internal temperatures of. The performance of solar water heaters in new zealand pdf 2 8 mb on the branz website contains the full report.