Research

Passive Solar Heating

Cool, cloudy, and snowy climates have surprisingly great solar heating resources: their heating seasons are long, lasting into long days, and sun angles are high due to cloud scattering. We're investigating new ways to quantify, capture, store, and deliver these resources.

Mass & Materials

Contrary to the lore of mass-to-glass ratios, thermal mass can be designed to deliver stored heat at specific desired times through careful choice of material, size, and positioning. Our materials work also investigates earth and fibrous materials that sorb humidity from night air and cool evaporatively the next day.

Passive Cooling & Controls

Shading, natural ventilation, effective use of thermal mass, and evaporative cooling can only be effective if operable elements move at the right time. This set of projects investigates passive cooling performance and redesign of existing buildings, as well as optimization of control parameters and thresholds.