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Title: Taos State Office Building, Taos, New Mexico: solar-energy-system performance evaluation, June 1981-March 1982

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5120038· OSTI ID:5120038

The Taos State Office Building is a single-story New Mexico office building which incorporates an integrated passive solar heating and daylighting system. The system is designed to provide 70% of the heating load. Solar energy enters the building via 11 rows of clerestory windows, south-facing windows, and east and west window scoops. Collected solar energy is stored in 14,080 gallons of water contained in drums in the clerestory area, as well as in the masonry construction mass of the structure. Auxiliary heating is via electric strips located in the supply ducts. Daylighting to work areas is provided through the clerestory windows and is regulated by movable insulated shutters which are used to reduce heat loss at night. The fraction of heating supplied by solar energy was measured to be 58%, corresponding to a savings of 3649 gallons of no. 2 heating oil, 495,720 cubic feet of natural gas, of 88,920 kWh of electricity. Monthly performance data are tabulated for the overall system, and for the collector, storage, and space heating subsystems. Also tabulated are monthly building environment data. A summary graph is also included for each month. (LEW)

Research Organization:
Automation Industries, Inc., Silver Spring, MD (USA). Vitro Labs. Div.
DOE Contract Number:
AC01-79CS30027
OSTI ID:
5120038
Report Number(s):
SOLAR/2080-82/14; ON: DE82021356
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English