SOLAR BUILDING

 

Location	213 Truman St. NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Coordinates	35°04′51″N 106°35′16″W′16″W
Built	1956
Architect	Stanley & Wright

The Solar Building, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the world's first commercial building to be heated primarily by solar energy.

 It was built in 1956 to house the engineering firm of Bridgers & Paxton, who were responsible for the heating system design.

It was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1985 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, only 33 years after it was built.

The firm of Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers was founded in 1951 by Frank Bridgers and Donald Paxton both of whom were interested in the potential applications of solar energy.

Initially operating out of a garage behind Bridgers' house, the two men conceived a new office building for their firm which would include an experimental solar heating system.

They believed such a system would not only save money, but would also allow them to collect valuable data for future projects.

In 1954, they were able to put some of their ideas into practice with an innovative heating and cooling system for the Simms Building, which took advantage of the building's south-facing glass curtain wall to provide solar heating in winter. However, additional heating or cooling was still required under most conditions.

Bridgers and Paxton began serious design work on the Solar Building in early 1954, and it was constructed between March and August 1956.

Stanley & Wright were the architects for the building.

Its total cost was Rs.58,500, of which the heating and cooling system made up about Rs.15,000

Despite some minor problems, the building's heating system operated successfully for six years, even during the particularly cold and cloudy month of January 1957,

When the building was expanded in 1962, the solar collector was abandoned in favor of a conventional boiler system.