WeâÂÂre testing our passive solar heating/cooling ideas on a 150sqft office built above a hundred year old stone cellar house.

We have a couple of questions.

If we create an air tight house how do we arrange for air recycling? In a building this small how important is this? Are there mechanical systems intended for buildings this small?

We believe we understand what to do for the heating but the cooling is an issue here in humid, rainy (in the summer) West Virginia. We like Virginia MacDonaldâÂÂs method of low vents (weâÂÂll bring in the cooler air from the cellar house) and high out vents since it works in Hawaii and has been proven to take care of both humidity and all the problems (mold, mildew) that go along with that.

If we use that method, how do we then make the house air tight? What about the winter months? How do we seal the vents?