House Design - Passive Solar

The block of land has a 20 metre frontage and a northerly aspect.The width of the block makes it much easier to take advantage of passive solar principles.To me the ideal house design should allow us to be able to be comfortable without any heating and cooling.

The idea was to have all of the following attributes if possible

• brick veneer on concrete slab
• insulation in ceilings and walls
• all major living areas on the northern side
• large windows and sliding doors on northern side
• tiled floors in living areas to absorb the heat from the windows
• wide eaves or verandahs to block out high summer sun
• minimal windows on east and west sides
• windows on south side placed to allow good airflow
• choose exterior colours that will reflect excessive heat

There were many other ideas involved but to me the points above are the most important.