Editorial Reviews

Now Dan Chiras, author of the popular book "The Natural House," brings those principles up to date for a new generation of solar enthusiasts.

In "The Solar House," Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling. Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious erros and shows how to avoid them. More importantly, Chiras explains in methodical detail how today’s home builders can succeed with solar designs.

Readers will learn:
- How to select a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly backup heating system.
- how to preserve indoor air quality in an airtight, energy-efficient home.
- ways of employing green building materials in a naturally conditioned home.

Customer Reviews

An excellent overview, 2008-10-14
by M. Jandjel (Croatia)

I like this book. It provides an excellent overview of pasive solar building concepts. The book was really what I expected it to be.

Gives more detail than other books, 2008-02-28
by Todd Rambasek (Cleveland OH)

I've read many other green building books. What I liked about this one was that it really goes into the nuts and bolts more - it give more detail than other books including some of Dan Chiras's other books - which I guess makes sense since it is about a limited area/topic.

A Great Reference for building, 2007-12-22
by Jerry Watson (Washington DC)

This book covers much more than Solar Energy by including many energy saving features to build into a house. I bought a copy for both my Architech and General Contractor.

Good overview of passive solar designs, 2007-11-04
by R. McKown (Colorado USA)

Everyone I talked to stated this as the first book someone should read to come up to speed on passive solar designs. And it is a good overview. But only an overview, providing lots of concept and a few "rules of thumb" only. Taken for what it is, this is a very good introduction to passive solar concepts. You'll have to look elsewhere for more detailed information if you plan to participate in the design phase of a passive solar building, or to learn enough to evaluate another's design. There are a few good references in the book to other materials as well.

Amazing book - quite possibly the BEST on solar building, 2007-07-13
by Jaynee (South Carolina)

My copy of this book is a mess. It has highlighting and notes all throughout the pages and looks well worn even though I've only had the book for a year.

When the time came to do some studying on solar design, this was the book that was recommended to me. And for good reason - it packs a wallop and provides SO MUCH great information in its pages. At the time I got the book I was somewhat of a novice to solar building and was concerned that the book would have too much jargon or concepts that I didn't understand, but Chiras does such a great job explaining everything in layman's terms that by the time I finished the book I felt like an expert myself.

I HIGHLY recommend this to ANYone looking to building solar/green. I consider it the best of the bunch.