Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 26, 2010 9:26 am Hi everyone, I have been reading this forum for ages but now we are actually thinking about building I figured it was time to join in... So we have a block of land in SE melbourne. It has a small dark house in the middle of a big block (~850m2) and a backyard full of concrete. The backyard faces north and the block is pretty much level. So the plan is to demolish and build something green. For the new house we are looking at passive solar design and I have been working on a design myself but we are also talking to some profession designers. I would love some comments on the design, see if we can refine it. We want something simple so it isn't too expensive to build but we don't want it to be too boring... The design is still pretty rough and I'm still to put in windows and doors but I'm happy with the basic layout... I'll try to attach the image and see what happens.... Try not too laugh too much at the design as it is our wishlist and I am sure some things will get cut. Also I am yet to work out how to make the pool green.... We can use it to cool the house by evaporation and we looking at solar and geothermal to see if we can make it work for us... So any ideas about a green pool would be great too... Here goes... I hope I get some comments... Re: Our Green House 2Aug 26, 2010 9:47 am okay the image didn't attach... apparently the image quota is full... anyone know how to fix this? Re: Our Green House 3Aug 26, 2010 9:54 am felicity1324 okay the image didn't attach... apparently the image quota is full... anyone know how to fix this? You could use http://imageshack.us/ Building at Warner Lakes in sunny Queensland. Building with Bold Properties. Building thread is here! - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38957 Blog is here! - http://campoutforland.blogspot.com Re: Our Green House 4Aug 26, 2010 10:02 am thanks for that higherdestiny! see link for jpg... http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8553 ... nhouse.jpg Re: Our Green House 5Aug 26, 2010 11:18 am You have some really good basic design elements in there for solar passivity. Reduction of windows along the western wall with the home theatre/bathroom/kitchen along that line, all your main glazing facing north, the hallway should create an excellent breezeway for pulling cooler air in from the pool. Well done. There is obviously a lot of tweaking needed, but your basic concept is pretty good. Just wanted to offer some words of encouragement. Well done =) As a matter of interest, what is the large block in the garage? Re: Our Green House 6Aug 26, 2010 11:20 am Re: Our Green House 7Aug 26, 2010 1:09 pm somewoman You have some really good basic design elements in there for solar passivity. Reduction of windows along the western wall with the home theatre/bathroom/kitchen along that line, all your main glazing facing north, the hallway should create an excellent breezeway for pulling cooler air in from the pool. Well done. There is obviously a lot of tweaking needed, but your basic concept is pretty good. Just wanted to offer some words of encouragement. Well done =) As a matter of interest, what is the large block in the garage? Thanks for the encouragement and the comments... The basics I understand, it's everything after that is where it gets tricky.... The big block in the garage is parking for a boat... It isn't very green but my husband loves it and would love to have it stored under cover.... Trying to fit it into the design has been a nightmare but it's his house too so I have done my best. Re: Our Green House 10Sep 03, 2010 2:46 pm V2.0 is much better, doing away with the 4th bedroom (unless you need it) an making it a study is what I would have opted for. Only thing I can see is, how usable will the front lounge be? What are its measurements? If such a large garage wasn't required you could move the entry and then turn that room into a more usable 'theater'. Just my 2 cents! Good job though, I like it! NO EXPECTATIONS, NO DISAPPOINTMENTS! Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=27441 Landscaping Thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=43969 Re: Our Green House 11Sep 03, 2010 2:55 pm Hey boiselfish, the front lounge is 3.5 by 5.5 m excluding the walk through hall part so I hope that makes it useable... You are right about the massive garage, it has been very difficult to fit everything with such a monster block of the front width used up... Thanks for the comments... Re: Our Green House 12Sep 04, 2010 8:05 am Hi felicity, Looks good. I like your landscaping. I think the ensuite bathroom is much better on the west side of the WIR but I think the actual layout might need work. It might be better to be able to walk straight through from the bedroom to the toilet. Currently you have to zig zag a little. My 2 cents. Quote: The big block in the garage is parking for a boat... It isn't very green but my husband loves it and would love to have it stored under cover if this is restricting the design, tell him to sell the boat!!!! Just joking... MJ Re: Our Green House 13Sep 04, 2010 7:56 pm Hey MJ, yeah selling the boat is a great idea now I just have to convince 'you know who'! The ensuite needs work like you say. I had the WIR on the outer wall (west) as insulation but it probably doesn't help that much and it does work a lot better with them switched around. The tricky bit with the ensuite is the shower. We saw a really cool double walk through shower in one of the display homes ages ago(can't remember which one) and it really seemed like an awesome idea. The difficult bit is to get it to fit with the extra length and 2 doors... It may be one of the things that gets dropped from the design due to cost etc but it would be nice if we could fit it in somehow... Any ideas? Cheers, Felicity Re: Our Green House 15Sep 05, 2010 11:05 am Valid point free will (about demolition) but there are some serious issues with the house.... All the wiring and plumbing needs replacing... a lot of the rooms and windows face the wrong way... the rooms are all too small and the floors have warped due to water under the house... The floor, roof and walls are uninsulated and it has aluminum windows. We have also been told with the age of house there may be asbestos. So we would pretty much have to gut the house and remove the north and east walls... It is a good point, so I will have to look at demolition guys that recycle... Or if we ever get around to actually doing this we could give the bricks away... Re: Our Green House 16Sep 10, 2010 6:04 pm okay so have had a look for recycling demolition companies... Has anyone used Pace Demolitions? (http://www.pacedemolitions.com.au) They apparently sell the materials from demo's at their yard... That should make it a bit greeener... Re: Our Green House 17Oct 30, 2010 8:39 am We were looking at using Ecoblock for the build but not all builders will work with it. Instead it has been suggested to use Hebel blocks and render... So I was thinking that we could add a layer of foam and sarking insulation to the outside of the Hebel before the render to achieve the same benefits as Ecoblock... So I wanted to know if anyone as used Thermawall or Koolwall over hebel? of course there are legal avenues. You've already mentioned it. Sue them. I find it odd that lawyers wouldnt be willing to take on the case, given CCT evidence and… 1 23764 "Losers" "humanity" "off time" "your" "top notch" "love symbol" Sounds like ponzo is done using other people's toilets 36 23884 |