Simple concepts

So, since starting to read up on solar heating, it seems to me that the concepts involved are very simple. However, it does definitely help to read up on designs which have proven most effective and learning why those designs are more effective than others. 

I am going to continue reading on things and learn more about how heat pumps work. I've heard of them but, since this is the first house I have owned and I have lived most of my life in the SW states, not much occasion to learn more about them. Like most of us, always been told heat pumps are devices for colder climates. 

So many things I have heard just prove what a wasteful society we have been for so long. (Not like I haven't known that since I was a teenager or younger.) It's actually rather foolish that we have not utilized so many technologies through the years which have been proven effective, economical, logical and environmentally responsible. It amazed me when I learned that solar water heaters were originally designed (and in widespread use in California) in the very early 20th century. It's now 100 years later and the design has not become common? Popular home design has not grown to utilize solar heating and natural cooling? I read not long ago that the NM Dept of Agriculture is selling low cost trees to people who own more than one acre. First, why placing limits on larger acreage? Second, none of the trees produce any fruit which they are giving away. Why? Why not produce trees which produce some form of sustenance, which also turns back into compost material more readily than just leaves? It has been a short time since solid waste facilities began composting material, rather than digging huge holes to dump things in. Methane production is still very low on the list of priorities, far beneath finding new sources of oil. While old food we throw away on a daily basis could be producing a valid source of energy for the future. It's sad. 

Oh, well. Began some initial drawings for the next incarnation of the greenhouse, as mentioned before. I know I'll have to go through multiple designs before coming up with one which I find suitable. I still have some research to do on wind direction, materials, cost, sources and more. Trying to make sure the design will be as complete as possible to begin with before beginning construction in a few months. Because of the extremes in the environment here and having the whole thing attached to the house, I want to include as much natural cooling as possible, not just heating. One of my biggest debates so far is regarding the greenhouse design closest to the house. I do know I'll have to make the roof as high as or higher than the house roof, then include vents at the top. 

Lots of ideas running through my head with lists of what I do not yet know right next to them.