Passive Solar Heat Even in Midwest Winters

In the early 1980s, an American energy crisis had passed. My wife, Jean, and I had had our first child, and we wanted to do something that would secure, rather than compromise, her future and that of our future children. So we dreamed and, in 1983, began laying plans for a home in the country that would minimize our impact on the environment.

We discovered a beautiful country property not far from where Jean and I had grown up, with trees surrounding the outskirts of the property and an open field for a future