Browse Forums Eco Living 1 Sep 25, 2015 8:20 pm Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums and trying to get tips and ideas on designing our dream home which I would love to be solar passive. We have employed a designer who specialises in sloping land to draw up our initial design but we are trying to tweak the layout and make it work. Our land is in Wollondilly Shire LGA, NatHERS Climate Region 28 Richmond, Zone 6 Passive Design for Climate. It's a predominantly south facing block with approx. 3m fall across the building envelope. From the building envelope we have lovely views to the north, through west to the south. http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx17 ... stitch.jpg http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx17 ... edited.png This is what we currently have. The garage will be detached and on the eastern side of the house. The portico will face approx. NNW. http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx17 ... mended.jpg With the current layout we like that we will get a view from our master bedroom and views over our property but I'm concerned with the lack of north facing windows from living spaces especially the rumpus and lack of main toilet on an external wall. Do you think the rumpus will be cold in winter if we don't get any sun through until it hits the deck doors in the afternoon? I only have basic knowledge of solar passive design that I've read up on the Your Home government website with the added dimension of slope to work with a need all the help I can get so anyone who can suggest a better layout or way to tweak the current rumpus and bedroom layout to include toilet on an exterior wall would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I should be focusing on passive cooling instead? Thanks E Re: Passive solar house on south facing sloping land 2Sep 26, 2015 12:00 pm Hi there Is the designer your using experienced in the area of passive solar design? Don't assume that designing a house in this manner is a standard practice by professionals- far from it. Passive solar should be addressing both summer and winter and perhaps with winter you may need 'help' through floor heating or fireplace etc. We used a designer who specialises in sustainable design for our reno and extension- would not have done it any other way. Some building designers do provide a service where they will look over your existing plan and 'tweak it' to achieve what you are after- focusing on sustainable design principles and building material. I would definitely pay for a service like this- your house will be around for a long time. You don't want it to cost you a fortune to run. Good luck with the build Re: Passive solar house on south facing sloping land 3Sep 26, 2015 12:28 pm Thanks dolphinblu, Apparently they are accredited with the HIA Green Smart Professional program but I was a little concerned as the original layout didn't seem anything like I imagined after reading through the Your Home Passive Design government info. We will be having a fire place for sure. It can get quite chilly where we are building and being on top of a hill we will have cold breezes rushing up the slope. Re: Passive solar house on south facing sloping land 4Nov 08, 2015 4:48 pm Just from the look of it, yours is a 3 level split level right? Without info on the elevations, it's a little hard to judge whether solar passive is part of your design. So will have to see how the roof line goes to see how much light etc you get for your rumpus etc. By the way, which way is north for your plan?! Also, just from the plan, I can see a lot of space wasted as hallways and you can try to imagine from your entrance down to kitchen, the path feels a little awkward. Just my thoughts. Re: Passive solar house on south facing sloping land 5Feb 28, 2016 9:47 pm I haved lived in Wollondilly for a decade and it gets chilly here in autumn and winter...we can get hotter in summer so you really need to take both into consideration when planning a passive solar design. We engaged a thermal energy assessor (in our area so she knows the climate well) as we are building in the southern highlands (even chillier again! Can be ten degrees colder than the dilly ?) and aiming for at least 8 stars...adding double glazing will be a massive help to you and possibly looking at reverse brick to help with thermal mass. Love seeing more and more of us utilising methods and taking into consideration the thermal effiency on new builds! We will enjoy comfy homes, smaller energy bills and hopefully a happier planet! 0 4986 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 18203 It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 19991 |