Not sure if this is the best place but here goes......
I would like some advice/input to the house I've designed, we have just had a quote back to build and it is more than we had hoped for. We want to build an energy efficient and eco-sensitive house and I had done a fair bit of research on passive solar designs and principles before I sent my design off for costing but, boy! Don't I wish I had have stumbled across this forum long before now (I am busily reading as many threads as I can to see where I've gone right and wrong, my eyes are falling out and my baby wants his mummy's attention back lol)
We will be building on acreage near Braidwood NSW the temperatures between summer and winter really vary, as high as 40 and as low as -9 although they are the extremes and usually only occur on a few days/nights a year, more usually mid-30s to -5ish. Having lived for the last ten years in a poorly designed/oriented 40 year old house (two storey west facing brick wall, poor cross ventilation, minimal insulation) we know all too well the discomfort and cost of living through each of these extremes. As far as I can tell cooling is as much a consideration as heating in our climate but perhaps that is clouded by the experience of above mentioned house?
The basics of my design:
House oriented with long axis E-W and North facing
Open plan central square containing kitchen (on southern side) and northerly living areas, bathrooms, laundry/mudroom on southern side, 2 bedrooms on southern side, one bedroom and the master on northern side.
~17.5% window area:total house area for northerly aspect windows, and minimal window area on E W and S sides, all windows double glazed (Note: current clerestory windows bring this value to ~22%)
Northern windows shallow eaves but with a solar pergola (fixed slats to be angled appropriately to block summer sun but let in winter sun)
Concrete slab, tiled in living areas and carpeted in bedrooms
Clerestory roof line with raked ceilings, northerly clerestory windows some of which open to allow heat to vent in summer. Windows would have dressings and possibly a solar pergola too.
Evacuated tube solar HWS, electric boosted.
Slow combustion solid fuel heater in living room (I love to watch a fire and there is plenty of fuel on the acreage) may also be fitted with a wet back to boost HWS instead of/as well as electricity.
Steel frames - the land is in a reasonably bush fire prone area, it has the highest rating of our area according to the CFS booklet.
High R value wall and ceiling insulation
Currently the cladding has been quoted for BV but we've been looking in to timbercrete, aac etc.
Onsite water treatment - both black and grey water.
I guess my biggest query is the clerestory roof and windows as having these have considerably added to the cost to build. I had put them in to allow light into the rear of the house, especially the kitchen/meals area in the rear of the 7+m deep central square and the 'parents retreat' to the rear the master suite. Are they useful for our conditions given the other design elements, or would they be redundant/more trouble than benefit?
Would thermal mass walls in the bedrooms be of benefit given that they will be carpeted? One room would have to miss out and rely on the heat from the slab near it but the other two share an E-W oriented wall and the master shares a N-S oriented wall with a tiled area.
Any thoughts on the cladding issue? And how do I calculate the optimum width for the eaves, especially those on the north so that they do not interfere with the solar pergola's function.
If you have made it through that essay thank you, any input will be gratefully accepted including links to appropriate threads (I've read all threads that came up in a search containing clerestory and a few others re thermal mass insulation etc.)