solar passive design

Grimshaw’s Aspire Tower will be a Benchmark for Passive Environmental Design in Australia

Grimshaw’s Aspire Tower will be a Benchmark for Passive Environmental Design in Australia

Grimshaw Architects has recently submitted its Development Application on behalf of Parramatta City Council for the landmark mixed-use tower. Aspire Tower will be located next to Parramatta Square on

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Striking Solar Equinox Passive House Aligns With the Sun in Bulgaria

Striking Solar Equinox Passive House Aligns With the Sun in Bulgaria

Taking cues from the home's hilly site, Ignatov Architects came up with a plan that fit in with the surroundings and took advantage of the seaside views. The home is built into the hillside and oriented

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KM Architektur’s Geothermal Heilbronn House is a Timber-Clad Home in the Forests of Germany

KM Architektur’s Geothermal Heilbronn House is a Timber-Clad Home in the Forests of Germany

Located on a slope at the edge of a forest on the outskirts of Heilbronn, this three-story house is perfectly positioned to take in its surroundings. The ground floor, which is buried into the hillside,

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Hotel Refugia is a Sheltered Eco Retreat on a Rugged Peninsula in Chile

Hotel Refugia is a Sheltered Eco Retreat on a Rugged Peninsula in Chile

Mobil Arquitectos sought to plant a light footprint on the topography of the landscape with the hotel and the rooms are perched up like a bridge on top of four concrete pillars. Their design also sought

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MAD Architect’s Curvaceous Absolute Towers Are Now Complete in Canada

MAD Architect’s Curvaceous Absolute Towers Are Now Complete in Canada

MAD Architects won an international competition to design the towers, which is part of a larger 5 tower development project in the downtown area of Mississauga. The project was aimed to provide important

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Sophisticated Passive H-House Keeps its Cool in Salt Lake City

Sophisticated Passive H-House Keeps its Cool in Salt Lake City

H-House is a three bedroom, three-story home in Salt Lake City, UT designed by Axis Architects. The ground floor holds the garage, storage and the entry, which leads up to the main floor that contains all

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A House for Three Sisters Combines Multiple Families and Sensitive Design in Spain

A House for Three Sisters Combines Multiple Families and Sensitive Design in Spain

A House for Three Sisters is essentially three homes joined together and united by shared common spaces in the center in Bullas, Spain. Each home has great views, an upstairs master suite and its own

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Green-Roofed Dani Ridge House is Tucked into the Hillside in Big Sur

Green-Roofed Dani Ridge House is Tucked into the Hillside in Big Sur

  The Dani Ridge House is a three-bedroom, 1,900-square-foot home outside of Big Sur, California on a pristine site above the Pacific Ocean. Carver + Schicketanz worked with their clients to

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Crescent-Shaped Weihai Pavilion Engages With the Seascape in China

Crescent-Shaped Weihai Pavilion Engages With the Seascape in China

Make Architects completed the Weihai Pavilion in the spring of 2012 to serve as an information hub and reception area for a new residential development on the island. The pavilion was the first to be

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East House is a Green Renovation That Doesn’t Need Heat or A/C in Australia

East House is a Green Renovation That Doesn’t Need Heat or A/C in Australia

The East House Byron Bay was originally a brick home constructed in the 1990s and the owners of the home wanted to transform it into a modern and sustainable residence that supported their passions, which

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H27D is a Zero-Waste Urban Infill Apartment Building in Constance, Germany

H27D is a Zero-Waste Urban Infill Apartment Building in Constance, Germany

Located in the historic district of Constance in Southern Germany, H27D features four private apartments and a ground floor retail shop. Kraus Schoenberg Architects's goal was to make the building blend

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MOTAT’s Aviation Display Hall Protects Historic Planes and the Environment

MOTAT’s Aviation Display Hall Protects Historic Planes and the Environment

The Aviation Display Hall was built to extend MOTAT's existing facilities and house all of their aviation exhibits. The new building is over 3,000 sq m and is actually built on top of a former landfill,

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Accounting Giant KPMG’s New Headquarters Balances Its Energy Budget To Almost Zero

Accounting Giant KPMG’s New Headquarters Balances Its Energy Budget To Almost Zero

KPMG's new headquarters is located on the “Revygrunden” (revue site) between Dirch Passers Boulevard and the metro entrance at Flintholm Station. The building will be used primarily for KPMG offices

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Palm Springs’ Rosa Gardens Affordable Housing Achieves LEED Gold Certification

Palm Springs’ Rosa Gardens Affordable Housing Achieves LEED Gold Certification

Rosa Gardens was constructed on an urban infill lot and it offers 57 units of 2 or 3 bedroom apartments. The project also includes a common laundry room, a community room, a pool, bike racks, a basketball

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SOM Completes Its Twisting Al Hamra Tower in Kuwait City

SOM Completes Its Twisting Al Hamra Tower in Kuwait City

The 74 story tower is innovative in its asymmetrical design and is a feat of engineering. The south wall is constructed from concrete and conceived as a protective skin to insulate the building against

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Rammed Earth Glenhope House is a Sustainable Vacation Retreat Outside of Melbourne

Rammed Earth Glenhope House is a Sustainable Vacation Retreat Outside of Melbourne

Three wings form the Glenhope House - a master living suite, bedrooms and the living/dining/kitchen area. The two private wings wrap around a circular driveway with two shaded parking spaces and the entry

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Little Compton is a Charming Passive Retreat in Rhode Island

Little Compton is a Charming Passive Retreat in Rhode Island

Little Compton Retreat is designed as a simple, gable-roofed structure with two bedrooms, with an open floor living, dining and kitchen area in the center. A bedroom is located on either side of the

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Sacramento’s New LEED-Seeking International Airport Opens For Business

Sacramento’s New LEED-Seeking International Airport Opens For Business

Sacramento's nickname is the City of Trees and the design for the airport was directly inspired by the canopy affect of the tree-lined streets. The terminal is a reinterpretation of those shady streets

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Simple Passive Solar House by Mimosa Architekti Respects its Site in the Czech Republic

Simple Passive Solar House by Mimosa Architekti Respects its Site in the Czech Republic

Located in the small village of Bohumileč in the Pardubice region, this two story home was built for a family of four. Inspiration for the home came from a rustic house with a saddle roof, and the

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The Roundy Residence Sits Calmly in the Face of San Juan Islands’ Winds

The Roundy Residence Sits Calmly in the Face of San Juan Islands’ Winds

Ten acres of gently rolling hills abruptly end in a high bluff down to the water, and this stark change in the landscape is what inspired the architecture of the home. Strong winds swoop up from the bluff

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Andrew Maynard’s Ilma Grove Is a Gorgeous Solar Passive Family Home

Andrew Maynard’s Ilma Grove Is a Gorgeous Solar Passive Family Home

The ultimate goal for the owners was to improve the home for their family and reduce their environmental footprint while still maintaining a small home. Originally the home had a brick lean-to at the rear

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Dip Into Geothermal Baths & Eco Luxury at Canada’s La Source Spa

Dip Into Geothermal Baths & Eco Luxury at Canada’s La Source Spa

The new pavilion is an addition to the existing facilities to improve the spa's programming and activities. The 800 sq m, three-story building includes space for 13 massage tables, two lounges, a

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Low Impact Apollo 11 House Lands Silently In the Forest As A Quiet Observer

Low Impact Apollo 11 House Lands Silently In the Forest As A Quiet Observer

The home is organized on two levels with 6 x 9 meter floors, each 6 meters high. This rectangular shape was inspired by Japanese architecture and based on the theory that rectangles are the only element

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Milan’s Milanofiori Apartment Complex is Filled With Green Gardens Inside and Out

Milan’s Milanofiori Apartment Complex is Filled With Green Gardens Inside and Out

The 107-apartment complex is part of a much greater master plan for the Milanofiori area designed by Erick van Egeraat. OBR was in charge of designing the complex, which has both a public and a private

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Crazy Japanese House Features Solar Heated Bathroom Bunker

Crazy Japanese House Features Solar Heated Bathroom Bunker

The compact home is located in a friendly neighborhood with some long-time residents, so the new owners wanted to make sure they built a home that was open and inviting. Building codes also let them build

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Prague’s Passive Solar Social Housing Project Makes the Most of Inexpensive Materials

Prague’s Passive Solar Social Housing Project Makes the Most of Inexpensive Materials

At the base of the social housing project sits a brightly colored gym surrounded by translucent walls facing the street. The rest of the project was built by adding brick-shaped apartments to create a

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Low-Impact Bryden House is a Sustainable Haven for Contemplation

Low-Impact Bryden House is a Sustainable Haven for Contemplation

The home is clad in lightweight metal to minimize maintenance, and is oriented towards the north to make the most of a solar passive design. Excavation was kept to a minimum to reduce site disturbances,

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JustK PassivHaus In Germany Is a Fab Prefab Wooden Tower

JustK PassivHaus In Germany Is a Fab Prefab Wooden Tower

The four bedroom, 1,485 sq ft home was designed for two parents and their four children. Built on a compact lot, the home has a small footprint and is built up to taper as it reaches the fourth floor.

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UCSD’s Campus Catering Building Reflects The Ocean with Its Checkerboard Blue Glass Facade

UCSD’s Campus Catering Building Reflects The Ocean with Its Checkerboard Blue Glass Facade

UCSD's new facilities provide office space for the growing housing and dining department responsible for on campus catering as well as an 8,000 sq ft catering kitchen and event and meeting space. Located

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MUT Architecture Unveils 12 Wooden Passive Houses for Parisian Suburb

MUT Architecture Unveils 12 Wooden Passive Houses for Parisian Suburb

Each of the 12 houses leans to a different side, allowing them to make the most of the site's available solar resource. Generous glazing on the front and rear of each house draws in light and encourages

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