Last week I mention our tour to visit net zero homes in Alberta. One of the homes we visited is the Mill Creek Net Zero home (MCNZH). The MCNZH collects 54% of its annual space heat through passive solar design by:

having huge south windows that are specially manufactured to maximize solar heat gain
containing a large amount of thermal mass to absorb the solar heat when the sun shines
having movable solar awnings that allow 100% of the sunlight to hit the windows during the heating season and provide shade in the warmer seasons.

Windows

Note the large amount of sunlight that enters the living room of the Mill Creek Net Zero Home. Not so obvious from this picture is that they have a 3 inch thick concrete floor to absorb this heat energy. By using movable awnings, the higher summer sun does not enter the room when they do not need the heat. Moving the awnings out of the way allows the sun to shine in during the winter months when heating is required.

For more information on the MCNZH, check out their blog at www.greenedmonton.ca.