Bob Opaluch designed and built a passive solar home in Colorado, renovated two homes in Massachusetts, built furniture, and has a lifetime of experience helping family and friends update and repair their homes. His teaching experience includes leading courses in Sustainable Architecture, Building Science, Human Factors Engineering, computer science, and a wide variety of courses in psychology. Bob has degrees in applied mathematics and in philosophy from Brown University, and psychology from UCLA. He was a psychology professor for five years, and a software and web site usability and design engineer for 20 years.
This article explores the viability of passive solar and solar-tempered space heating in northern U.S. regions and metro areas. I will quantify solar heating potential by looking at climate data…