About urbansun

Hello, I’m Kathryn Gray, the founder and principle of urbansun. I have been designing passive solar homes since the 1970’s when, as a young city planner responsible for developing policies to achieve more sustainable community development as mandated by the then new Oregon State Land Conservation and Development Regulations, I became aware of how unsustainable our development practices had become.

The Arab Oil Embargo of the same period brought the point dramatically home. One of the key strategies that emerged to help promote long-term community energy sustainability was to encourage the use of solar energy to heat and cool buildings, both by land use development patterns and building design and construction practices.

One thing that became quickly apparent was that very little design and technical expertise was available to help developers, builders, and homeowners implement these policies and development strategies. And that inspired my life-long journey to understand and create homes that would by their design and construction provide more than half of their heating and cooling needs directly from the sun. I successfully tested my new knowledge by designing and building my first passive solar home for my own family in the mid 70’s.

Almost 30 years later, I have designed hundreds of passive solar homes that havebeen constructed throughout the country from Georgia to Alaska, from California to Massachusetts and I have personally managed the construction of several homes. And 30 years later, I am more convinced than ever that passive solar design and construction is the cornerstone to creating healthy, comfortable, sustainable living environments.

Urbansun was founded in 1978, by Kathryn Gray, as a passive solar design firm for residential homes. Urbansun was initially based in Lake Oswego, Oregon (suburb of Portland), relocated to Bend, Oregon (Central Oregon, high desert region) from 1997 - 2007 and has recently established a new home in Portland, Oregon.

Our initial and continuing objective is to promote passive solar energy as the basis for designing and constructing residential homes. Most homes, if properly constructed, can generate more than 50% of their space heating requirements with passive solar energy. Once you have designed and sited the house for maximum passive solar energy, active solar energy options can be readily added for optimal effectiveness.

Urbansun has designed over 300 passive solar homes and a number of solar additions to existing homes for clients throughout the US. In addition, Urbansun has constructed over 40 passive solar homes in California and Oregon to test and evaluate the effectiveness of passive solar energy in a number of different climatic conditions. In addition, we recommend the use of sustainable, local materials to achieve an optimal "green" home.

Urbansun designs a "sun-smart" home that is effective at meeting year-around requirements for winter heating and summer cooling. Solar energy is free and sustainable. Every home should take advantage of solar energy to reduce costs of space heating, enjoy the light provided by the sun, and live in the warmth and comfort of solar energy.