Daylight in Green Building

We Love Daylight; It Overheats Us

We love daylight. It has such a positive psychological effect on human beings that more mental health problems occur during winter than summer due to winter's shorter hours of daylight.

In the winter we need warmth and welcome the sun into our homes. During the day we curl up like a cat in that warm spot by the window--a warm spot that begins to cool as darkness approaches.

Yet most of the year in North Central Texas, we must control the amount of daylight which enters our home because of overheating. At the very least, we must control the direction our windows face, then shade the west, south, and east for some parts of the day during certain seasons of the year.

Jim Sargent, the green builder chosen by the Department of Energy as Builder of the Year because of his energy-efficient homes, builds houses designed to capture the warmth of the sun in the winter, then blocks that heat from the sun in the spring, summer, and fall. He calls this good passive solar design.

See also
Passive Solar Design

Do you need a green builder/remodeler
 in North Central Texas 
or the Dallas-Fort Worth area? 
Contact Terry Jensen 
972 251-1532 or 817 545-0140