ABSTRACT
As a rule of thumb, in the so-called developed regions of the world people spend about 90% of our time inside buildings. Using occupied spaces as the passive heating system of a building is an effective strategy, especially in combination with thermal mass. Climate-responsive buildings in cool climates therefore aim to take advantage of solar-oriented windows for direct solar gain, and minimise openings in the opposite facade. The sunspace is usually coupled convectively, meaning that the heat is transferred by opening doors or windows in an insulated wall between sunspace and building. This is known as ‘isolated solar gain’. Warm air molecules contain more energy than those in cool air. Any mass of warm air will try to attain equilibrium by moving towards colder air. Thus, if outside air is warmer than the air inside a building it can be a heat source, flowing into the cooler building.
