Sustainability Archive

Many significant resources pertaining to sustainability, particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s, seem to have been overlooked and forgotten. While researching for projects, articles, proposals, and so forth, we have had the good fortune of stumbling onto some of these documents. This archive, started in September of 2024, is an attempt to archive some of these critical texts (which have significantly impacted, and continue to shape, how we approach areas of design such as passive heating and cooling), in a centralized location. We would like to thank Architect Bruce Davis, out of New Mexico, for his time and remarkable generosity, for first drawing our gaze to this remarkable period of innovation that has predominantly been lost to the times.

The items are arranged in chronological order.

1975 - Sunspots: Collected Facts and Solar Fiction by Steve Baer, Illustrated by Criss-Cross Art Workshop. Published by Zomeworks Corporation (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

1976 - Proceedings from the Passive Solar Heating and Cooling Conference and Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico (18-19 May 1976). Coordinated by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Solar Energy Group. (pp1-168) (pp169-355)

1976 - Design for a Limited Planet: Living with Natural Energy by Norma Skurka and John Naar. Published by Ballantine Books. For us (for various personal and intellectual reasons), the case studies of particular interest were the projects associated with, or titled, Harold Hay (p28), Peter van Dresser (p38), Henry Mathew (p40), Steve Baer (p44), Paul Davis (p50), Karen Terry (p74), the Mobile Solar Home (p166), Ouroboros (p186), and 519 East Eleventh Street (p192).

1979 - Thermal Storage Wall Design Manual by Alex T. Wilson. Look at pp11-18 in particular to see how to size trombe walls.