These 7 Homes in the Southwest Show How to Design For the Desert
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In a completely exposed, glass-box home in the high desert east of Los Angeles, Linda Taalman and Alan Koch of Taalman Koch Architects selected passive heating and cooling strategies, including windows and sliding doors made of Solar Ban 60 glass and coated with a low-e coating for long-wave radiation. The roof is configured so that it blocks the summer sun, but windows have been oriented so that in winter, when the sun is lower and temperatures drop, sunlight can penetrate through the windows. Solar power generates hot water and electricity.