| Arizona
has a variety of climates, largely determined by altitudes, which
range from near sea level to over 11,000 ft. In the central and
western sections of the state and most of the south, desert
conditions prevail with high summer daylight temperatures and mild
winters, although day-night variations are great. At higher
elevations, mainly in the north and east-central mountains,
winters are cold and summers mild.
Because the bulk of Arizona's
population, including the large cites of Phoenix and Tucson, are
located in the center and south, the information in this section
is limited to these areas.
Passive solar construction cost
vary from little if any more than conventional construction to
considerably more. Many forms are economical because of the large
savings of utility bills that can be achieved - typically in the
50% to 70% range. The Sustainable Energy Code developed in Tucson
for the Civano Solar Village stipulates heating and cooling
savings of 65% above the Model Energy Code. It is widely
applicable elsewhere in the state. In addition, there are
significant health benefits of living solar including an absence
of pathogens in artificially cooled air and noise reduction.
Passive solar can utilize
standard construction systems with careful space planning,
orientation, selection of building systems placement, size of
windows and selection of building materials (e.g. thermal mass).
All of these entail little if any additional cost.
Costs will be greater if
special materials are used such as rammed earth, straw bale, adobe
construction with outsolation, poured-in-place adobe, water
storage tubes, movable insulation, etc. In several of these, costs
are high because demand is low. Cost could come down if mass
production becomes feasible. Costs also are higher if expensive
tile or brick is used for thermal mass floors or decorative block
thermal mass walls, earth integration or custom fabrication parts,
with the additional cost over standard construction usually in the
5-10% range.
In some instances, specialty
items actually cost no more (or even slightly less) than
conventional construction. For example, in one house a roof pond
system was used for heating and cooling, replacing conventional
roofing, roofing structure, heating system, cooling system and
ductwork.
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