It is generally considered by eco-designers that the optimum orientation for a domestic dwelling in a cold temperate climate in the northern hemisphere is with the most heavily glazed façade facing within 30° of south, so that the rooms on that side of the house can make the maximum use of passive solar gain during the heating season. Analysis has been undertaken to quantify the situation for an actual dwelling built in 2004 in Sheffield, England, which features a heavily glazed rear elevation that looks 30° west of north. Eco-designers might expect this to be one of the worst performing orientations for passive solar heating, and so the performance of the design has been evaluated for each of the cardinal and inter-cardinal orientations under three criteria: natural daylighting performance; total solar insolation received and transmitted; and total fabric heat loss for the glazing design. The results are presented in scientific units and also in terms more familiar to UK house-building decision makers; those of BRE EcoPoints and a dwelling's SAP energy rating. Comparison is then made between the predictions of the computational and SAP methodologies, and what the results mean for the eco-designer.
Keywords. daylighting; solar gain; orientation; SAP
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How to cite this article
Holland, R. and Gillott, M. (2005). 'Quantifying the Benefits of Solar Design'. SET Proceedings, 4(1), pp. 273-279. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2005.062
