Customer Reviews

The Passive Solar Energy Book (Expanded Professional Edition)

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From a number of books I have been reading on passive energy topics, Mazria's small book is the most concrete, understandable and organized. I designed my home using the book and the forecasted energy compsumption matched the calculations!

A seminal reference on the fundamentals of solar design. Easily used, yet thorough and quantitative. Should be required reading for everyone in the architecture & building design fields. Sunfall info given here is relevant to every structure ever designed -- and if you actually use it, the info *will* improve your design!!

When I designed our first house this book was invaluable. We are now designing our second home and looked to see if there is an update. Unfortunately it has not been revised but then little has changed with the sun and mass and the book will once again be a valued resource.

Many years ago I found Edward Mazria's 1979 "Passive Solar Energy Book" in a used book store and bought it on a whim. For years it sat waiting in my reference library. Now as a retired Engineer interested in designing an energy independent house -- it is by far, a most useful Bible.

The book's self-limitation to "passive" (rather than "active") systems -- only affects the architectural design philosophy and patterns (rules of thumb). Russel Ball's sketches illustrate basic concepts extremely well.

Charts and tables of solar insolation on surfaces at various latitudes and tilt-angles (from his computer analysis in the 70s) are extensive, detailed and applicable anywhere, for ANY solar design.

My "Professional Edition" (687 pages) includes 14 Appendices filled with reference charts and tables -- and clear plastic chart overlays for latitude and panel orientation. I only wish Mazria's underlying formulas for calculations were provided (as many now on the Internet are dangerously poorly documented.)

The book is written in a friendly and understandable format, while also filled with hard-data -- as relevant today as when written. I can't believe it hasn't been continuously re-published. If you are designing solar and find a copy, grab it without hesitation.

This book has everything you need to know about passive solar. It's well organized. It has detailed examples and illustrations (all black and white, but easy to read). 99% of the material is still relevant today, 30 years after the publishing date. Its amazing to me this information has been around for 30 years and still not put to use. If you are building a green house, you need this book. If you want to lower your heating bill, you need this book. If you want to build a green building you need this book. This book does not have actual building code though, like how many 2x4's you need for a sod roof, but it has detailed sun charts, latitudes, longitudes, thermal conduction of various materials, insulation rating of various materials, real world examples, and much more.

As everyone else has indicated, this is by far the best passive solar design book in our library. It contains all the information necessary to properly design a solar passive house. The only negative is that it is 1979 Copyright, out of print, and may therefore be hard to acquire. The best current book that we have is by Daniel D. Chiras, "The Solar House". James Kachadorian's "The Passive Solar House" is also an excellent current book in terms of the excellent engineering information provided although some of the slab construction recommendations may be somewhat dated and not in line with current best practice. The worst book we have encountered was Debra Coleman's "Sun Inspired House". This book is merely an advertisement of the plans she sells and we would definitely advise applying due diligence if considering to do business with her.

Passive solar technology has changed little since the first edition of this book was published in the 70's and Mazria is the man.
You can, and should, design your next house using the principles and calculations in this book. Everything you need to know is explained, and anyone who got a C or better in high School algebra can do the math. It's an empowering book, and a great dream piece. It's testimony to the folly of our age that, 30+ years after the publication of this book, we're not all living in houses designed according to its principles.
you still have time.

This is the design authority for energy crisis 1.0 passive solar design. Very appropriate today.