Passive Solar Thermal Mass Flooring

Your passive solar design expert can optimise the amount and placement of both glazing and thermal mass by using hour by hour simulations of the design.

Passive solar thermal mass flooring.

In simple terms a passive solar home collects heat as the sun shines through south facing windows and retains it in materials that store heat known as thermal mass. More information can be found here on using thermal mass for heating and cooling floor requirements to provide thermal mass for heating wall requirements to provide thermal mass for heating water as a thermal mass. But there are other eco friendly flooring options that are comfortable don t impede the absorption of solar radiation for passive heating. Thickness concrete slab floors should be 100 200mm thick for the best performance while thermal mass walls should be 100 150mm thick.

Thermal mass is most commonly used for passive heating though it can also be used to absorb and dissipate heat for passive cooling. Thermal mass is another vital and complimentary component of passive solar design. Find out more in the ecohome building guide. Flooring materials for passive solar floor slab designs where direct solar gain and passive solar heat storage are desired.

He suggests a stained concrete floor or tile. Photo gallery is packed with images commentary and our free htm home tour video. A material that has thermal mass is one that has the capacity to absorb store and release the sun s heat energy its density and levels of conductivity help to keep the internal temperature of a building stable. A properly designed passive solar system can reap energy savings for a home because the thermal mass can store excess heat during the day and allow it to offset nighttime heating loads.

I am building a home that will use a combination of a mini split and passive solar in the pacific northwest. Floor plans features several functional basic layouts and commentary on design choices. Flooring choices for use over concrete slabs using thermal mass what finish flooring materials are best to use over a concrete floor slab to retain the thermal mass properties of the slab. Htm passive solar ebook table of contents.

Introduction to high thermal mass pragmatic design low tech functions and materials. For thermal mass it has a concrete slab floor with insulation underneath. Passive solar heat collection from south facing windows can be absorbed and stored in thermal mass like concrete floors. Although thermal mass is often in the form of a concrete floor there are other ways to incorporate it into a home such as a wall that receives lots of sun or.

My question is about flooring. Objects that have thermal mass have inherent qualities for both heating and cooling. I was planning on an engineered wood floor but my builder pointed out that this would prevent the sun from heating the slab.