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Passive Solar Design

Reduce Heating and Cooling by Taking Advantage of the Sun

Many of our customers have adapted their Deltec floor plans to benefit from free heating available from the sun. The flexibility of the Deltec components allows you incorporate any level of passive solar design: from the simple (often called "sun-tempered") benefits of south-facing glass and large overhangs to a well-planned passive solar house with just the right amount of glass in each cardinal direction, envelope design for superior insulation, and heat-storing materials incorporated into the floors and interior walls.

Deltec Passive Solar Guidelines

1. Interior spaces requiring the most light, heating and cooling should be along the south face of the building, while less-used spaces should be located in the north quadrant of your home. The more open these areas, the deeper sunlight and passive solar benefits can penetrate.

2. Keep window and door openings to a minimum on the east and west sides as these are the most difficult to shade in the summer, especially at lower latitudes. Also, most winds travel east and west, so these windows and doors on the east/west side will contribute most to air leakage. Doors and windows on the north side should also be kept to a minimum to reduce heat loss in the winter.

3. Overhang size should be selected to allow sunlight to illuminate your south windows in the winter but completely shade your south windows in the summer. Deltec's green department is available to help you with overhang sizing.

4. Glass especially designed for passive solar applications is available for south-facing windows.

5. High-performing insulation and dense flooring materials such as concrete slab floors and ceramic tile can compliment passive solar window arrangements by storing the heat gained.

South-facing living area of a passive solar Deltec. First floor windows are shaded from summer sun by a second-floor porch looking south.

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We love our Deltec. It is a wonderful design and is VERY fuel efficient. It was green before green was cool. - Becky A., Greenville, SC

Due to the superior energy efficient design of the Deltec home, all the south facing glass and the active solar power equipment, the home is totally self sufficient.
 - John J., Telluride, CO

Our Deltec home has exceeded our expectations. It is comfortable inside and looks great outside. We are very happy with the energy efficiency and comfort of this design. - Marianne K., Harrisonburg, VA

Each time the gas company sends out a bill, they include a chart comparing our consumption with their average customer. Always, our consumption is just half of the average. - Ed B., Holcomb, NY

Our past electric bills ranged from $120 to 250. With our 4000 sq. ft. Deltec (around 3 times the size of our old house), our electric bill averages around $120, $130 per month. - Kim M., Magnolia, TX

We love our Deltec home. It is very energy efficient (we have not had a gas bill over $75 this year), spacious, easy to maintain, and incredibly "livable." - 
Daniel & Lynn W., Wildwood, PA

We have just gone through our first winter and I can't believe how tight this house is, and how it weathers the local winds which are occasionally pretty interesting. - Joseph R., Oakhurst, CA

Using regular windows, floor plan design & sub-tunnels we have such great natural lighting that we almost never need to turn on any lights in the house.
 - Beth H., Charleston, SC

Even on coldest days in Colorado, our house stays in the low 60s without using the furnace during the day. In the summer it never gets above 75 even if 15 degrees warmer outside. Love my house! - 
Suzanne M., Buena Vista, CO

Everyone else around us is crying about $500-$600 a month electrical bills and ours was $239.00 last month which is really low for Hawaii. - 
Keith B., Holualoa, HI

For our new home, we built to the basic Deltec standards…and our Deltec Home earned a HERS score of 34. Our home uses 66% less energy than code-built new homes. We’re very pleased with the energy efficiency. -Barbara P., Richford, VT- - Barbara P., Richford, VT