A retail bookstore and offices for the University of Minnesota's admissions and records department are housed in Williamson Hall. Some 95 percent of the floor area lies below grade; however, window arrangement permits a view of the outdoors or sunlight from almost every part of the building. (Author/MLF)

The new Terraset Elementary School in Reston, Virginia, uses earth as a cover for the roof area and for about 80 percent of the wall area. A heat recovery system will be used with solar collectors playing a primary role in heating and cooling. (Author/MLF)

The proposed Niskey Lake Middle School is designed to have solar heating in half of the building, solar water heating for the entire facility, and solar cooling for the administration area. (Author/MLF)

The Terraset Elementary School in Reston, Virginia, combines underground construction with a sophisticated heat reclamation mechanical system and solar collectors. (Author/MLF)

New energy-responsible buildings will not only use less energy, but will be more comfortable, more closely attuned to nature, and will create a better learning and living environment. The most cost-effective planning decisions have to do with good passive solar design and sensible operations. (MLW)

A consensus has developed among U.S. solar researchers that the solar-powered cooling of buildings is an important topic. Most solar heating systems are technically simpler, and more highly developed, than solar cooling devices are. The determination of the best design concept for any particular application is not a simple process. Significant…

Describes schools that have installed solar energy heating and cooling systems. (Author/MLF)

A new, split-level high school at Magnet Cove, Arkansas, is distinctive in appearance, high in educational efficiency, and inexpensive to maintain. (Author)