Passive solar engineering

At the core of green building is energy. Energy has the largest resource and environmental impact on homes and buildings – if you are not addressing energy efficiency, you are not building green. When considering energy efficiency, passive building design should be addressed first as it provides the least cost solution to reach the energy efficiency targets by leveraging the materials you are already using to build the structure.

Passive Solar Engineering
sdf
Heliocentric doesn’t just design passive solar buildings – we engineer them. We perform detailed solar engineering analysis in conjunction with building simulation and HVAC engineering to tune passive solar buildings as integrated systems and ensure optimal passive heating and cooling.

  • Climate responsive, architecturally integrated passive solar and cooling design
  • Net-Zero and “Passivhaus” design
  • Solar stress, overshading, and zone analysis
  • Architectural solar feature design
 passive solar hosue

solar survey

Solar and Climate Surveys
sdf
Heliocentric provides detailed climate assessment and solar site surveys of the prospective building site. Surveys help the design team develop site appropriate architectural solutions and assist the creation of realistic energy models and passive solar solutions.

  • World-wide climate analysis
  • Solar and environmental resource assessment
  • Seasonal shading analysis
  • Building siting for optimal solar access

Building Simulation and Optimization
sdf
We provide energy analysis services using detailed computer models to accurately simulate performance in your local climate. Modeling provides invaluable understanding of how designs and materials will actually perform before you build, and provides an essential foundation for engineering extraordinary buildings.

  • Optimize envelope, windows, mass, and shading
  • Buildings 10x more energy efficient than code
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Least-cost building strategy assessment
  • EPACT tax credit certification
 building simulation modern house

solar shading analysis

Passive Building Solutions
sdf
Heliocentric analyzes solar building problems and engineers unique architecturally appropriate and building integrated passive and semi-passive solutions .

  • Building integrated passive solar systems
  • Solar thermal energy stores
  • Trombe walls and green spaces
  • Solar induced natural ventilation
  • Passive downdraft cooling
  • Building integrated solar air, water and PV systems
  • Solar zoning, heat flows and thermodynamics

bringing science to green building