Everything Solar Forum

communities_1.jpg

 View Only
  • 1.  Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    ASES Life Member
    Posted 03-17-2026 09:20 AM

    Catch the GHI Webinar this week about Trombe walls which have been a part of many passive solar homes. Long-time ASES  member, architect Mark Chalom, showed us examples on a tour this summer and that we featured in an earlier GHI webinar.
    Sign up for the GreenHome Institute webinar here: 

    https://givebutter.com/TrombeWallCaseStudyGHIWebinar?mc_cid=eaf357ea3c&mc_eid=3156378185



    ------------------------------
    Debbie Coleman
    (Architect & ASES Solar Buildings Chair)
    Sun Plans
    debra28@sunplans.com
    https://www.sunplans.comArchitect
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 03-18-2026 09:27 AM

    Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Debbie!



    ------------------------------
    Ella Nielsen
    Membership & Engagement Director
    American Solar Energy Society
    Boulder CO
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    ASES Life Member
    Posted 03-18-2026 10:09 AM

    This is one passive solar idea that too few people know about. I found Wilfred Okonkwo in Nigeria, and recorded this zoom call about his use of trombe walls to successfully improve the process of brooding chickens. Fewer chicks lost to temperature drops and the ones that made it to the range or pen were healthier.



    ------------------------------
    Luther Krueger
    Curator Maximo
    Museum of Solar Cooking, Minneapolis
    Federally Occupied but United State of Minnesota
    [EmailAddress]
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    ASES Life Member
    Posted 03-20-2026 05:55 AM

    Luther, thanks for sharing the chicken Trombe wall example. Passive solar can benefit more than people. 

    You can rewatch the Trombe Wall webinar by ASES's media partner GreenHome Institute.  They will also be providing some of the continuing education credits for building-related sessions at SOLAR 2026.

    https://youtu.be/DVxu6VnQ0No?si=GmETezyaNM67tdmW

    Looking forward to further discussions at SOLAR 2026 around the sun's role in creating resilient places to live and work by incorporating natural heating and cooling strategies in above-code structures.  The buildings can then operate with fewer solar panels and batteries as the building becomes a battery that stores heat which allows for more stable interior temperatures in both winter and summer. See you there! Did you see early bird registration has opened? 
    https://ases.org/conference/



    ------------------------------
    Debbie Coleman
    (Architect & ASES Solar Buildings Chair)
    Sun Plans
    debra28@sunplans.com
    https://www.sunplans.comArchitect
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    ASES Award Winner
    Posted 03-23-2026 07:25 AM
    Hi Luther, beware, Quentin Wilson and I did this at Ghost Ranch 40 years ago as part of an Adobe class. It worked so well, they ate the chickens and made the space their farm office.




  • 6.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    ASES Life Member
    Posted 03-23-2026 12:34 PM

    Excellent seminar with great advice for building Trombe walls. The example was from Michigan., not the first climate one would think of for passive solar. Just goes to show that it works across a wide range of climates.



    ------------------------------
    M Keith Sharp
    Emeritus Professor
    Louisville KY
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Wed 18 Mar - Trombe walls

    Silver
    Contributor
    Posted 03-24-2026 11:09 AM

    Mass in the thermal envelope is a win, win everytime.



    ------------------------------
    william fitch
    Owner
    www.WeAreSolar.com
    ------------------------------