Mark Chalom

Architect based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Degrees in architecture and environmental design from the University of Oklahoma. Came to New Mexico in the early 1970s; practicing since 1975. Founded “Solar Design and Analysis” in Santa Fe. 150+ efficient homes over three decades. Developed the “Solar Adobe” concept. Designed the first certified passive house in New Mexico. Co-authored the New Mexico Earthen Materials Building Code — adopted internationally. Partner: Betty Tsosie.

Received the ASES Passive Solar Pioneer Award (2010 or 2012 — source discrepancy). 2012 Equinox Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bridgers family. Keynote speaker at Earth USA 2022.

Night-sky radiant cooling report (2006)

Lead author, with Bristol Stickney (Cedar Mountain Solar) and Kate Snider (assistant and graphics), of a 2006 New Mexico state-funded report quantifying night-sky radiant cooling (NSRC) potential for Governor Bill Richardson’s Water Innovation Fund (PSC #05-341-1000-0035, completed February 28, 2006) — see Night sky radiant cooling potentials in New Mexico for the report itself.

The report tested 10 different radiator panels over two summers in Tesuque, NM (overall average cooling U-value 1.66 BTU/hr·ft²·°F), and found NSRC could cool an efficiently designed 1,800 sq ft home in every New Mexico climate zone, including the hottest (Carlsbad) — power savings ranging from 25% (Albuquerque) to 89% (Carlsbad) versus conventional cooling, per the executive summary. (Note: the companion cooling-calculator spreadsheet by Stickney shows the opposite gradient — ~81% saved in Albuquerque falling to ~58% in Carlsbad — an unresolved discrepancy between the report’s executive summary and its own calculator.) The report explicitly cites Steve Baer and Zomeworks’ Cool Cell and Double Play systems as the technology being validated, and includes thermal performance data for Baer’s Double Play system.

The project also produced a companion slide presentation (Kate Snider, February 2006) and the interactive Excel savings calculator (Bristol Stickney, Cedar Mountain Solar).

Sun-dwellings roots (1973–1976)

Chalom’s involvement with the New Mexico passive solar movement reaches back to its founding era: per the ASES regional history, he sat on the NMSEA Sun-dwellings design team headed by Peter van Dresser (meeting in Santa Fe from 1973, alongside William Lumpkins, David Wright, Francis Wessling, Steve Baer, Benjamin “Buck” Rogers, Aubrey Owen, and Keith Haggard), and co-led construction of the four Ghost Ranch dormitory test units with Quentin Wilson from summer 1976. His 2006 NSRC report for the state is a direct continuation of that lineage — three decades later, still quantifying the passive technologies that milieu pioneered.

A separate archive note references a “Utah project” where Chalom and Bristol Stickney “have repeated many of our experiments on night cooling,” suggesting an ongoing collaborative relationship beyond the single 2006 report.

Mark Chalom

Night-sky radiant cooling report (2006)

Sun-dwellings roots (1973–1976)

See also