Passive Solar design basics, a way for low emission buildings?

Abstract

Danish Building Regulation allows a market that chooses non-compact and non-passive Solar optimized design. This leads to balance higher heat demand with surplus active solar gains in calculating a yearly energy balance. Expectations like "Soon we will have district heating with CO2 neutral biomass and batteries to save so is there a need for solar passive design?" further encourages to assume, that summer solar gains might be saved for winter heating demand in a not so far future. As a passive house architect, I am often confronted with this question and this way of thinking by politicians and architecture students. They do care about climate change, but do not seem to understand why we ought to change the way we plan building space and energy systems. The contribution architects can make to reduce climate impact by building spaces that ensure a passive exploit of the suns energy, not just surfaces to mount active solar devices, is not commonly understood.