How can you retrofit a concrete block house with few windows to be more resource-conserving?

''It may not be practical to add a porch, but it might be practical to add shade trees on the south and west sides,'' suggests Janet McIlvane with the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa.

''If not that, then look at shade screen or shade cloth that goes over the entire window,'' she says. ``You'd have to have a frame made up, but it would be like putting sunglasses on your house.''

Ventilation is more challenging. In vernacular houses, windows were large to maximize air flow: Large windows were on the front of the house and small windows on the back, and ''suddenly you've got an air tunnel,'' she says.

To have cross-ventilation to improve comfort, you need openings on opposite sides of the house. ''If you have the bedrooms in the back, open windows in the front and back,'' McIlvane suggests.

-- GEORGIA TASKER

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