The Building of Our Solar House

Luis, Alden, Charlotte and Nate

HMW Questions

Started out with How Might We questions:

How might we make sure we have the most efficient heating system?

How might we include the five elements of passive solar heating into our house?

How might we make sure we have the best insulation to retain the heat?

How might we make sure the sunlight is not wasted?

How might we keep the heat collected for the most time?

HMW Questions & Brainstorming

Questions helped us make most efficient house.

Get the most heat overnight with minimal effort.

Then brainstormed ideas of house designs.

Our Final Choice

After brainstorming ideas and HMW’s, we picked our final design choice.

Our winning design used a dome roof and insulation in the walls.

Prototyping Begins

We started out with a cardboard box and cut a hole in the top for light to get in.

Then we added spray-foam on corners and inside large black pipe as insulation.

The pipe would also absorb lots of heat.

Prototyping Continued

Next we spray painted the floor black (sadly, not pictured)

Then put a clear dome on the top to let light in.

Prototyping Continued

Near the end of the project we realized we had no insulation on the outside.

So we added strips of foam in the larger cracks.

Final Phases of Prototyping

In order to have a warmer house, we added a thermal mass, in our case, rocks.

The stones inside the house act as the thermal mass. They absorb heat throughout the day and release it at night.

The True Test

We set the house outside and waited for the temp. reading.

Unfortunately, Seattle weather is not very warm, so the house did not reach the desired temp. of 60 degrees.

The End of Solar Houses

The project is now finished, and the houses have been deemed operable.

To read more about the different concepts in our group’s house, you can go to their blogs.