Dano605 you raise a good point about natural ventilation and energy efficient design. One of the keys to effective passive energy design and ventilation is to take advantage of the natural breezes of the site. A room that has a bank of windows on two (preferrrably opposite) sides will allow effective cross-ventilation, if one of the banks of windows is facing the direction of the prevailing summer wind flow. Using low operable windows (awning windows for example) for the cool air to enter and high windows (hopper or awnings will both work) on the opposite side of the room for warm air to exit enables a constant flow of natural air, cooling and ventilating the space. Ceiling fans may be used to accelerate the air flow. When it comes to shading, effective overhangs can be designed for southern exposures, which block the sun in summer, while allowing the sun to penetrate in winter. To achieve the proper overhangs, one only needs to know the latitude of the building site and use readily available sun angle charts for the four seasonal solstice periods for the given latitude. There are many sources for this data; most architects simply use their Architectural Graphics Standards book. This reference book may be found in many libraries for use by non-architects. Overhangs for solar control on north facing windows and walls are really unnecessary in the northern hemisphere. Eastern and western exposures are almost impossible to design effective overhangs for solar control due to the low sun angles that occur on these exposures. This is why orienting the major glazed face of any building to the south, while minimizing eastern and western faces of the building, is always a desirable strategy. This is also why architects, given a choice, will always recommend property which allows for south-oriented buildings. Hope this helps. Good luck on your project.

It's finally time to head home, and bring my windowsill collection with me. They've been in a western window with full sun for about 8 hours, at 6,500 feet elevation. After being in a shaded car for a 5-day journey home, they can get full sun for 12 hours, elevation 14 feet. :) I'll keep them in partial shade just to recover from the car trip for a few days, but how quickly can they get back to full sun? I mainly have echeverias, cactus, and a few graptopetalums and graptoverias.

Thanks for explaining the install, olychick. It sounds like a great option for other folks. We get wind even on sunny days. When I read the reviews, several customers in colder climates had problems with the motors freezing and icing, rendering the shades inoperable until the sun had a chance to defrost the units. That's a no-go. I could see those being awesome in other locations, though! Maybe someone else will be inspired. : ) Thank you so much fun2Bhere for posting those pictures and for the explanations! That's very helpful. You have a beautiful location, too. : ) Wait a minute, where's the other picture? I wanted to show DH what was visible through the shade in that one. Is there any chance you can add it back?? It showed more of your landscape than the sunny pictures. We aren't on water, but we have lots of landscape to enjoy, so that picture might help him, too. I'm pretty sure we're going to go for solar shades in 5%. I just have to make up my mind which color to get. I like how the white shades would blend into the molding when rolled up, but it looks like the white has the poorest view of all the samples I got. But, the dark roll might really bug me. Hrmmmm...

IMO your plant looks ok. I would suggest bright indirect light. Anytime my pilea leaves get direct sun, even for an hour, they get little brown burnt spots. Do you rotate your plant? I find the leaves are always reaching towards the light so I rotate mine regularly. That might help with the drooping/lopsided-ness.