Annualized geo solar

Annualized Geo-Solar is a structure-heating technique combining Summer-time capture of solar warmth, deposit and storage of that heat in insulation-buffered sub-structure soil, and, after a designed-in conductive thermal lag of 6 months, radiational return of a portion of that warmth from the surface of a conductive floor, to (usually passively) heat the living spaces above. AGS heating systems typically consist of:
*A "very" well-insulated, energy efficient, eco-friendly living space;
*Heat captured in the summer months from a sun-warmed sub-roof or attic space, a sunspace or greenhouse, a ground-based, flat-plate, thermosyphon collector, or other solar-heat collection device;
*Heat transported from the collection source into (typically) the earth mass under the living space (for storage), this mass surrounded by a sub-surface perimeter "cape" or "umbrella" providing both insulation from easy heat-loss back up to the outdoors air and a barrier against moisture migration through that heat-storage mass;
* A high-density floor whose thermal properties are designed to radiate heat back into the living space, but only after the proper sub-floor-insulation-regulated time-lag;
*A control-scheme or system which activates (often PV-powered) fans and dampers, when the warm-season air is sensed to be hotter in the collection area(s) than in the storage mass, "or" allows the heat to be moved into the storage-zone by passive convection (often using a solar chimney and thermally-activated dampers.)Usually it requires several years for the storage earth-mass to fully preheat from the local at-depth soil temperature (which varies widely by region and site-orientation) to an optimium Fall level at which it can provide up to 100% of the heating requirements of the living space through the Winter. This technology continues to evolve, with a range of variations (including active-return devices) being explored. [ [http://www.greenershelter.org/index.php?pg=2 Greener Shelter] ] The listserve where this innovation is most often discussed is "Organic Architecture" at Yahoo.

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