Cistern revival
"First Purge"

This project was driven by the summer peak heat and sun that comes through my windows into the house. I live in an earth-contact home and it faces south (as it should) with large windows lining the length of that southern face. This was intentional in the design as they capture sun/warmth in the cooler months which gets absorbed into the concrete floor.

Unfortunately, the builder didn't extend the soffets far enough to block sunlight during the warmest seasons. The soffet depth is typical for a home built in Missouri, but the window depth is longer than normal. Mine are 36" wide by 72" deep.

My solution, inspired by several eco-architectural images I ran across while developing mood boards for this web site design process, is passive solar awnings. My design will match the pergolas (new and old) I have built, including the red stain.

Normal Missouri soffet depths are appropriate for windows no more than 48" deep. Mine are 72" which allows more sunlight to enter, even when the sun angle is steep.	An inkwash of the awnings project.

I'm building four awnings for the four southern-facing windows and I'm seriously considering something similar for the large window you see in the illustration. It takes in a lot of sun all day. This is great in the colder months, but requires two layers of interior shades in the warmer months. Being much wider I'd have to create a support system in the middle pulling from above.

Clamping multiple boards together helps with consistent alignment. I used the table saw to cut the slots for the cross bars.	Working in assembly line fashion is the most efficient. Make sure your plans are accurate, though.
An air nailer attached to my compressor made quick work of assembling the awnings. Love my powertools.	The translucent stain color I chose is called Redwood.
Systematically staining, one side at a time, one awning at a time. Then, flip! Repeat. Two coats.	Installed, and they work. They'll cut just enough sun to reduce heat on warm days.

If you haven't already, check out the Cistern Revival project page and see the pergola structure I built to support the water plumbing from the garage gutters to an unused cistern.

A designer needs to understand their audience.

In order to to this, I created a survey and polled my community for friends, colleagues, and family. Through a series of questions I got a bette idea of where many folks position themselves regarding environmental concerns and degree of engagement in sustainbility efforts.