Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 27, 2010 6:44 pm I am currently trying to find a suitable home design for my block of land (Sydney, NSW). I have been researching about sun orientation, passive solar heating etc. From the research I gather that the ideal position for passive solar heating is true north or between 15 degrees west and 20 degrees east of solar north. My land is not facing true North. Details of my lot as follows: Width: Front 16 m Back 16 m Length: Left 30.9 m Right 31.1 m Orientation: Back is facing North East (not sure the degrees east of solar north) Front is facing South West (not sure the degrees west from south). I am still deciding on single or double but am leaning more to single at the moment. Many home designs have master bedroom in front of the house for single storey. My preferance is not to have the master bedroom in front of the house (middle or back of the house is better). I know it is much easier to decide for a double storey - I can have the master bedroom right at the back and all the living area, kitchen etc are downstairs. I have seen an example of a passive solar heating design home (floor layout of a single storey house) that has a true north orientation. As my block of land is not facing true north, I am not sure what the ideal floor layout will be for it. Based on the example I am trying to figure out how to rearrange the layout so it will be a passive solar efficient for my land? Once I know how the layout should be, I will look for a similar layout in existing home builders design plans. Can anyone help with any suggestions? Has anyone seen any home designs that would be suitable for my block based on passive heating requirements? Does anyone know of any software that will show the path of the sun based on orientation? Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance. Re: Sun Orientation - Home Design 2Oct 27, 2010 6:59 pm You really want your living areas on the most northern facing aspect, so that would be to rear. It depends what your other requirements of your build may be (ie, theatre room, study, etc) if you could get the bedrooms away from the front. The general idea is to maximize the sun intake in winter. The eastern aspect gives morning sun, northern most of the day, western afternoon. West and east aren't desirable due to angle and intensity of heat, but north-east should provide reasonably pleasant warmth in winter providing you can find a suitable method of shading in summer. Are you looking to design something or locate a suitable ready-made design? Re: Sun Orientation - Home Design 3Nov 01, 2010 6:15 pm Thanks for your input, somewoman. I am so new to this and time is running out so I will definitely be going with the best 'fit' home designs from the builders. Registration is scheduled in mid-Dec and access to the lot has been delayed bec of the constant rain over the last few weeks. I should be now have choosen my builder and in the tendering stage. ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15085 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13761 Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19472 |