Following the first energy crisis in 1973 there was a rush to heat homes with the sun. It was a tinkerer's paradise, with all manner of solar heating systems migrating from garage workshops to ...

As I discussed in last week’s column ("Resilience: Dramatically Better Building Envelopes," Jan. 4), a resilient home is extremely well-insulated, so that it can be kept warm with very little ...

The passive-house building standard relies on lots of insulation and intentional design to use as little energy as possible for heating and cooling. "Things like 'passive house' have become more ...

A Palm Desert passive solar home designed to offer protection from the harsh afternoon sun has been listed for $2 million. Dubbed the “Bunker House,” it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. One of ...

Jun. 12—Building a passive solar adobe home wasn't the norm in 1982. But studio artist and Zen practitioner Susan Linnell, driven by a desire for efficiency and an interest in architecture, knew what ...

John Avenson fell in love with his home more than four decades ago. The year was 1981. That’s when Avenson, a young engineer at the Bell Telephone Co., caught an ad for an event called a Passive Solar ...