Buildings and Town Planning

A lot of information used in this section comes from John Perlin's book "Let it Shine".

Building Design

Even in quite cold parts of the world, it is possible to dramatically reduce the cost of heating a house by designing it properly to take advantage of the sun. It takes multiple days of cloudy sub-zero days before supplementary heating becomes necessary. In Australia which has relatively mild weather, it should be possible to get by completely without heating or cooling other than through sun and shade. The essence of solar design is this:

• On the equator side (north for Australia) should be the main living areas with big windows shaded by eaves to let in the winter sun which comes at a low angle and keep out the summer sun which shines at a steeper angle.
• Windows are minimised on the eastern and western side because those would let in more sun in summer than in winter.
• The pole side (south for Australia) should be used for entrance areas, bathrooms, laundry, etc, which don't need to be continuously kept warm.
• The house should have a high thermal mass to allow it hold heat overnight and through cloudy days.
• Good insulation, though not specific to solar design, is always a good idea.

These principles apply also to apartment buildings.

Even if you think climate change is a hoax and you are reading my material just for a laugh, it would be desirable to be aware of these principles when buying a house or apartment or when having a house built because of the potential to save a lot of money on heating and cooling.

Town Planning and Legislation

It should be a legal requirement for all new residential buildings in new subdivisions and where possible also in existing residential areas that the buildings can be kept reasonable comfortable all year round without heating and cooling, other than with sun, shade and opening windows at night.

Town planning has an important role to play in this. In Australia, there is a lot of regulation around what can be built where and rightly so as the amenity in one building, including access to sunlight, can be compromised by buildings nearby. Those regulations and also the street layout of new subdivisions should be carefully thought through, so that it is actually possible to achieve good solar design.

If solar design regulations apply to a block of land, then solar access should be awarded as a property right, to protect the land owner in perpetuity against rezoning and unreasonable development approvals for neighbouring blocks. Solar access as a property right is not a new idea but was pioneered by the ancient Romans in the second century.

Building standards should also mandate that residential buildings be built with solar hot water systems. In all probability, if solar water heaters are incorporated into the building from the beginning, more effective designs will evolve compared with the current situation where solar water heaters are installed on the roof as an afterthought. It may not be realistic to supply the bottom levels of high-rise apartment buildings with warm water from solar water heaters built into the roof, but at least the top few levels should be supplied with solar-heated water.