NJ GREEN BUILDING MANUAL

NEW COMMERCIAL UPDATED 5-MAY-11

Building Orientation
What is Building Orientation?
Building orientation refers to the way a building is situated on a site and the positioning of
windows, rooflines, and other features. A building oriented for solar design takes advantage of
passive and active solar strategies. Passive solar strategies use energy from the sun to heat and
illuminate buildings. Building orientation and building materials also facilitate temperature
moderation and natural daylighting. Active solar systems use solar collectors and additional
electricity to power pumps or fans to distribute the sun's energy. Heat is absorbed and transferred
to another location for immediate heating or for storage for use later. Water, antifreeze or
sometimes air circulates to transfer heat. 1 Unlike active solar strategies, a passive design does not
involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices, such as pumps, fans, or electrical controls.
Passive solar heating makes
Passive Solar Function
Example Construction/Material/Action
use of the building
Collect
South-facing glazing
components to collect, store,
Store
Masonry, water, other mass
distribute, and control solar
Distribute
Radiation, convection, other natural heat transfer
heat gains to reduce the
Control
Light shelves, insulation, light-shaded paints
demand for fossil fuel2
powered space heating.
Table 1 - Building Components and Passive Solar Functions
Passive solar heating
strategies also provide opportunities for daylighting and views to the outdoors through wellpositioned windows. The goal of passive design is to maximize solar gain while minimizing
conductance. 3 Passive cooling removes or rejects heat from the building, keeping temperatures
cool. Avoiding any mechanical operations to moderate temperature achieves energy and cost
savings by alleviating the cooling load demanded. Shading devices can also reduce unwanted
solar gains by blocking the sun during the summer months, while natural ventilation, which
relies on natural airflow and breezes, can reduce the need for mechanical cooling when the
building is occupied (see Glare and Heat Gain Reduction strategy).
The following five elements constitute a complete passive solar design. Each performs a separate
function, but all five must work together for the design to be successful: aperture, absorber,
thermal mass, distribution, and control (see Figure 1). 4
1

US DOE | EERE. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/site_administration/glossary.html (accessed April 30, 2011).

Whole Building Design Guide. Passive Solar Heating Introduction. http://www.wbdg.org/resources/psheating.php
(accessed April 30, 2011).
2

st

Selkowitz, Stephen. 1999. High Performance Glazing Systems: Architectural Opportunities for the 21 Century.
Ernest Orlando. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Berkeley, CA. http://gaia.lbl.gov/btech/papers/42724.pdf
(accessed June 6, 2010).
4
US DOE | EERE. Energy Savers: Five Elements of Passive Solar Home Design.
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10270 (accessed March 22,
2010).

NJ GREEN BUILDING MANUAL

NEW COMMERCIAL UPDATED 5-MAY-11

How to Optimize Building Orientation

It is best to incorporate passive solar
systems into a building during the
initial design. Passive solar systems
utilize basic concepts incorporated
into the architectural design of the
building. They usually consist of:
o Rectangular floor plans
elongated on an east-west
axis
o Glazed south-facing wall
o Thermal storage medium
Figure 1 - Five Elements of Passive Solar Design, 2009
exposed to the solar radiation
(Source: US DOE | EERE)
o Light shelves/overhangs or
other shading devices which sufficiently shade the south-facing elevation from the
summer sun; south elevation overhangs should be horizontal while east and west
elevations usually require both horizontal and vertical overhangs 5
o Windows on the east and west walls, and preferably none on the north walls
In addition to passive solar and energy-conserving strategies, active solar systems can be
integrated into a building's design and systems. Buildings designed to serve as active solar
collectors should not be shaded by nearby trees or buildings and should have solar arrays or roof
area facing south. Both passive and active solar collectors should be oriented at the angle of your
locations latitude (in New Jersey, this is approximately 40N).
Examples
PNC Bank, Summit NJ
www.scbp.org/member/documents/pnc.pdf
Cambria Office Facility Ebensburg, PA
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/windowsvolumepurchase/pdfs/r5_windows_commercial
_buyers_fact_sheet.pdf
McKay Center - University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison WI
http://www.ecw.org/wisconsun/learn/cs_mckaysolarthermal.shtml
5

Watch, Daniel and Deepa Tolat, 2010. WBDG. Sustainable Laboratory Design.
http://www.wbdg.org/resources/sustainablelab.php (accessed August 9, 2010).

NJ GREEN BUILDING MANUAL

Benefits

NEW COMMERCIAL UPDATED 5-MAY-11

Related Strategies

o By relying on solar energy, a renewable, nonPhotovoltaic Systems

Solar Hot Water Heaters
polluting energy source, passive and active solar
Glare and Heat Gain Reduction
designs do not generate greenhouse gases and slow
Daylighting
fossil fuel depletion.
o Passive solar buildings can respond to changing
weather conditions and connect occupants to the natural environment.
o Passive solar buildings provide daylighting, which has been linked to increasing occupant
satisfaction and productivity.
o Passive solar buildings use thermal massing to reduce temperature swings and produce a
higher degree of temperature stability and thermal comfort.
o Reduced heating and cooling costs through natural heating/cooling cycles and using
materials enhanced for penetrating, absorbing or releasing solar radiation.
Costs
The initial cost of passive design elements depends on the element. Some cost the same (e.g.,
light exterior walls for cooling) or only slightly more than conventional building costs (e.g., light
shelves designed to control sun penetration). Some cost considerably more (e.g., interior thermal
mass materials such as stone and brick). However, these measures can lower operating costs.
Compared to passive solar systems, active solar systems often have a higher initial cost and
longer payback period, which vary widely depending on the size and the specific type of
technology used. 6 However, current federal and state tax credits and rising energy costs make
active solar systems an economic alternative to conventional systems. 7
For more information on cost and energy savings, see Efficient Windows Collaborative.
Resources
Whole Building Design Guide - Passive Solar Heating Introduction
http://www.wbdg.org/resources/psheating.php
Solar Energy Basics (NREL)
http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_solar.html

Fosdick, Judy. WBDG. Passive Solar Heating. June 17, 2010. http://www.wbdg.org/resources/psheating.php
(accessed July 30, 2010).
7
Drumheller, S. Craig. ASRAE and DOE | EERE. Final Evaluation of Low-E Storm Windows. 2007.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/windowsvolumepurchase/pdfs/low-e_storm_window_field_test.pdf

NJ GREEN BUILDING MANUAL

NEW COMMERCIAL UPDATED 5-MAY-11

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNL) Energy Savings Estimator

http://www.windowsvolumepurchase.org/R-5_Benefits_tool.xls
US DOE Windows Volume Purchase Program
http://www.windowsvolumepurchase.org/
Sustainable Sources- Understanding Passive Systems: batch and thermosiphon
http://solarheatcool.sustainablesources.com/#PASSIVEDHW
Technology Fact Sheet: Passive Solar Design (NREL)
http://search.nrel.gov/cs.html?url=http%3A//apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/b
uilding_america/29236.pdf&charset=utf-8&qt=passive+solar+design&col=eren&n=2&la=en
NJs Clean Energy Program
http://www.njcleanenergy.com/
NJ Clean Energy Program Solar Energy Incentives
http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/technologies/solar/costs-incentives-andsavings/costs-incentives-and-savings