Insulation And Heating

One of my interests as I'm doing the garage project is to consider and possibly implement some passive solar design considerations.  The garage is not intended to be living area, but to the extent that I will use the garage as a workshop or for storing items that I don't want to freeze, I would like it to be as naturally warm as possible.

The two things that I'm considering are super-insulation and large windows on the southern side of the building.

Windows
For the passive solar windows, these are the principles that I would like to follow:

• Windows on southern side
• Awnings or deciduous trees to block the high-in-the sky summer sun
• Windows with low U-Factor (.1 to .3), high Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (> .5 if possible), and low Air Leakage (< .2).  Information on reading the standard window spec label can be found here:
• http://nfrc.org/label.aspx
• Windows with an area equal to 12% of the floor area.
• I don't want to use super expensive windows.  I'll probably settle for something off-the-shelf.

(from the NFRC link above)

Insulation
For passive solar insulation, these are the principles that I would like to follow:

• Take the time to seal all air leaks with foam insulation.  I may create an internal partition wall to section-off a more climate-controlled portion of the garage from the portion with the garage doors.
• Put 2" rigid foam insulation under the slab and around the foundation wall to eliminate cold bridges - areas where heat can flow from the inside to the outside without crossing insulation.  Here is a nice design guide on how much and where to use insulation around a foundation: http://www.toolbase.org/PDF/DesignGuides/revisedFPSFguide.pdf

(from the guide that I linked to above)

There are plenty of other areas related to passive solar that I could consider, but I think the costs out-weigh the benefits for a garage.

I'm sure I'll be updating this post as I do more research and make decisions on the insulation and heating.