concepts · updated 2026-07-19
Baer AIA passive solar slideshow
confidence: medium volatility: cold
A presentation by Steve Baer to the Albuquerque Chapter of the AIA on January 15, 2009, titled "Some Passive Solar Buildings with a Focus on Projects in New Mexico." The 23 MB PDF is a slide deck with
A presentation by Steve Baer to the Albuquerque Chapter of the AIA on January 15, 2009, titled “Some Passive Solar Buildings with a Focus on Projects in New Mexico.” The 23 MB PDF is a slide deck with photographs, diagrams, and a written summary.
The individual slide pages (pages 4–45, matching the deck’s own image numbering) are also archived as separate page scans alongside this record in raw/articles/ — 2009-01-15-baer-passive-solar-buildings-aia-04.png through -45.png — for readers who want a specific photo or diagram without opening the full 23 MB PDF.
Summary argument
Baer argues that passive solar design comes in waves — championed by House Beautiful in the 1940s, then the 1970s boom — and that each wave recedes when fossil fuel interests reassert themselves. He notes that the tools available in 2009 are better than those of 30 years prior:
- Steel drums leaked; plastic drums don’t.
- Black paint was the only absorber; selective surfaces are now available.
- R-2 windows were the best; R-4+ windows exist now.
- Shutters were hard to make; now they’re everywhere.
- Temperature measurement required thermocouples; infrared scanners are cheap.
His conclusion: “Let us hope we can begin a new epidemic of passive design. Surely the passive solar virus has mutated and the epidemic will reach larger populations.”
Projects shown
The slideshow surveys the New Mexico passive solar canon:
| Project | Designer | Location | Year | Key feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunscoop (David Wright) | David Wright | Santa Fe | 1974 | Direct gain |
| Ghost Ranch (Sun Dwelling) | Peter Van Dresser | Abiquiu | — | Trombe wall |
| Baer Zome | Steve Baer | Corrales | 1971 | Drum wall, reflector/shades |
| Benedictine Monastery | Baer / Zomeworks | Pecos | 1978 | Drum wall, clerestory |
| Skytherm (Harold Hay) | Hay / Edminster / Haggard | Atascadero, CA | 1973 | Roof pond |
| Monte Vista School | Dave Harrison / Zomeworks | Albuquerque | 1973 | Greenhouse |
| Paul Davis House | Paul Davis / Baer | Corrales | 1972 | Air-loop rock storage |
| NM State Office Building | William Mingenbach | Taos | 1976 | Insulated drum shades |
| Andy Shack | Zomeworks | Albuquerque | 1988– | Unglazed Skymats, test building |
| Bruce Davis Studio | Bruce Davis / Zomeworks | Albuquerque | 2004 | Double Play Skymats cooling |
| Dave House North | Zomeworks | Albuquerque | 2008–2009 | Double Play system |
Significance
The slideshow is the only source in the archive where Baer places his own work in the context of the broader New Mexico passive solar movement. It traces a lineage from Van Dresser and Wright through the Zome cluster to the Double Play systems of the 2000s. It also documents the Sunbender reflector/shade system and the Andy Shack test building in detail.
See also
- Andy Shack
- David Wright
- The Karen Terry House
- Steve Baer
- The Baer House
- Bruce W. Davis
- Cool Cell architectural climate-control
- Di-thermal roofs
- Overhead thermal shutters
- Double plays old and new
- Building thermal storage
- Steve Baer and the double-play thermosiphon
- Tribal Messenger solar serialization
- Evolution of the thermal vision
- Index
- Zomeworks shipping container prototype
- Independent validation of the thermal vision
- Why hasn’t passive thermal scaled?
- 2006–2017 independent work bundle
- Archive photographs
- Ken Haggard
- DrumWall
- Beadwall
- Sunbender
- Baer House preservation guide
- David Harrison
- Bill Mingenbach