Solar zoning and energy in detached dwellings

Abstract

The solar envelope is a three-dimensional volume on a building site which will not shade adjacent neighbors during a specified minimum of hours each day. The solar envelope was developed as a tool to give buildings in an urban setting the mutual opportunity to employ passive and active solar-design strategies. Parametric computer-aided-design environments significantly ease the construction and visualization of solar envelopes across whole neighborhoods, facilitating its wider use as a prescriptive zoning tool. This study investigates the implications of a solar-envelope zoning approach for the most common building type in the United States with respect to energy use and developable density. The results indicate that solar zoning for this building type has a limited, and sometimes negative effect on energy use as well as a larger negative impact on developable density.