ABSTRACT
Solar energy is quickly becoming a false panacea for our energy ills, the Holy Grail of soft technology. The danger now is that this bright technology may cast a long shadow over the broader issues of the patterns of growth and development and their effects on resources, the environment, and people’s lives. If a significant reduction in energy consumption is to be achieved, the energy use inside a building cannot be separated from the energy use dictated by its location and its interrelationships with other buildings. The potential energy savings that solar heating and cooling of buildings could provide is also undercut by the inherent inefficiency of our common housing forms. Transportation is the largest nonindustrial energy consumer in this country, accounting for 25 percent of the national energy consumption. In this realm, as in the domain of solar design, conservation ought to precede the implementation of alternative fuel sources.
