Hello Everyone,
We have had the 5 acre block for about 2 years now and been planning the build for a while. It is an hour from Brisbane at Esk at the top of Wivenhoe dam. It is steep and quite a difficult block but has views of the valley and native bush. Wallabies, birds, snakes and the occasional koala can be heard.
Am wanting to make the house as sustainable as possible by building north facing, small east/west walls, super insulated, natural ventilation. We want a concrete floor which will have to be suspended because of the slope. It will provide thermal mass, termite barrier, substantial mass (good base for those Queensland storms) and some protection from fire.
Will have a home sewerage treatment plant, tank water collected from the roof and self sufficient solar energy though we have mains electricity at the moment.
Planning to Owner Build as what we want is specific to the site and there is only so much flexability to project/kit homes. Don't have the budget for an Architect desiged home either but have worked on a house plan that we have had drawn up by a Building Designer.
Hope to learn from the forum and contribute where I can.
Regards,
Goose.
Goose