Wiley Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies Towards Net Zero Architecture

Why I reached for this book

I’ve been looking for a single, reliable reference that connects passive design fundamentals with practical guidance on mechanical systems and lighting controls—ideally through a net-zero lens. Heating, Cooling, Lighting (fifth edition) has been that anchor on my desk. It’s not a glossy manifesto; it’s an engineer-architect translator that explains why a building behaves as it does, and how to shape those behaviors toward net-zero performance without losing the thread of good design.

What stands out

Three things made a strong first impression:

• The integrated approach. Instead of treating envelope, HVAC, and lighting as separate tracks, the book shows how early design decisions ripple through thermal loads, comfort, and control strategies.
• A climate-first mindset. It keeps returning to local climate and site conditions as the starting point for passive measures—orientation, shading, glazing, thermal mass—and then layers in active systems only as needed.
• Actionable metrics. It provides the kinds of performance targets and rule-of-thumb checks that help me sanity-check early sketches before I open a modeling tool.

It’s hefty (832 pages), but the structure is modular enough to dip in where needed—say, daylight strategies for a studio project or heat gain calculations for a retrofit—without reading cover to cover.

Depth and scope

The coverage tracks the arc from fundamentals to application:

• Heating and cooling: It builds from comfort and psychrometrics to load drivers (solar gains, conduction, ventilation) and then to system responses. I appreciate how passive options are presented alongside their preconditions and trade-offs—e.g., when night flush cooling works, when it doesn’t, and how stack versus cross ventilation scale with plan depth and wind conditions.
• Lighting: The daylight material is practical—orientations, aperture design, shading geometry, light shelves, and material reflectance—paired with basic electric lighting design and control strategies. The book makes a clear case for controls (occupancy, vacancy, and daylight-responsive dimming) as energy tools, not just code checkboxes.
• Integration and modeling: The energy modeling guidance is tool-agnostic and focused on workflow: define climate and massing, map dominant loads, prototype passive options, and only then size and select active systems. That sequencing has helped me avoid chasing diminishing returns, especially on glass-heavy schemes.

It’s not a substitute for a mechanical design handbook or a lighting manufacturer’s spec catalog. Instead, it connects early design choices to performance-level consequences, which is exactly where many projects veer off course.

How I used it on a project

On a recent academic building in a mixed-humid climate, I used the book as a checklist and a planning guide:

1. Climate and massing: I sketched massing variants with different orientations and aspect ratios, using the book’s guidance to compare solar exposure and natural ventilation potential.
2. Envelope tuning: The envelope chapter helped me prioritize overhang geometry for the south facade and external shading for the west—plus a quick reflectance audit for interior finishes to boost daylight distribution.
3. Daylight targets and controls: I set initial daylighting goals for learning spaces and specified photosensor zones aligned with fenestration and program layout. The book’s practical notes on sensor placement saved me from a few “why is this dimming too aggressively?” headaches.
4. Loads and systems: Before opening a modeling tool, I estimated likely peak drivers (solar and internal gains). That primed a more focused energy model, cutting down iterations by eliminating obviously mismatched system options.

The result was a clearer path to reduce cooling plant size and a simpler lighting control sequence that still met comfort and energy goals.

Design modeling and metrics

Where the book is especially useful is in translating metrics into design actions:

• Comfort: It frames comfort not as a single temperature target but as a combination of air temperature, radiant temperature, air speed, and humidity—giving designers levers beyond “turn down the thermostat.”
• Daylighting: It doesn’t just preach “more glass.” It shows how aperture size, placement, and surface reflectance impact useful daylight and glare, and how shading geometry affects luminance balance. It’s a helpful antidote to all-glass reflexes.
• Energy: It emphasizes the hierarchy—first reduce loads passively, then match active systems to the remaining demand, and finally deploy controls to manage variation. That order of operations consistently produces simpler, more robust solutions.

The modeling advice is accessible to students but still meaningful for practitioners. You won’t get software-specific tutorials, but you’ll get a reliable blueprint for setting assumptions, scoping sensitivity tests, and reading results critically.

Visuals and usability

Illustrations are a strong suit. Diagrams explaining shading angles, section-based daylight penetration, and airflow patterns make abstract principles tactile. Color pages are thoughtfully used to differentiate components and highlight energy flows. I also appreciate the consistent callouts to “why this works” and “when it doesn’t,” which keep the guidance rooted in physics rather than dogma.

It’s a large hardcover, and the print size is comfortable for extended reading. The physical heft is real, though; this is more of a desk reference than a field companion.

Where it falls short

A few caveats:

• Not a deep MEP design text. If you’re looking for system-level design details (coil selections, control diagrams, commissioning scripts), you’ll need complementary references.
• Limited software specificity. The modeling sections are process-focused; they won’t teach you a particular tool. That’s a strength for principles, but you’ll still do the work of mapping guidance to your preferred platform.
• Advanced controls and analytics: While the coverage of lighting controls is solid, the book doesn’t go deep on contemporary building analytics or integrated building management systems beyond the essentials.

None of these are deal-breakers; they reflect the book’s intent to be the performance bridge between design and engineering.

Who will get the most value

• Architecture students and early-career designers who need a grounded introduction to climate-responsive design, daylighting, and the basics of system integration.
• Practicing architects and design managers who want a shared language for early-phase performance decisions with engineers and clients.
• Sustainability consultants who want concise ways to communicate trade-offs and frame net-zero pathways during concept and schematic design.

Mechanical engineers may find it less technical than their standard references but still useful for aligning with design teams.

Tips to get more out of it

• Start each project with the climate and massing sections, then bounce to the relevant passive strategies. Use those choices to set modeling assumptions.
• Pair the daylight guidance with quick sketch studies and rough reflectance checks before committing to detailed simulations.
• Treat the modeling chapter as a workflow checklist: define questions, run simple parametrics, and only then pursue detailed models.

Recommendation

I recommend Heating, Cooling, Lighting for anyone shaping buildings toward net-zero performance, especially in the early phases where form, envelope, and program set the trajectory for everything that follows. Its strength is connecting design intuition to quantifiable outcomes—and doing so with clarity, strong visuals, and a practical workflow. It won’t replace detailed MEP or software-specific guides, but as a principle-first, climate-aware companion for everyday design decisions, it earns its place within arm’s reach.