Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 07, 2020 11:25 am Hi guys, I am seeking for some advice on the build of my future house. We only locked the land with the deposit and starting to do some research about the perfect design and builder we can find. I am really keen on using insulation on the roof and thicker wall to benefits for a better comfort and looking at any element you can think for the house to be self energy efficient and not compromising to much the look of the house either. This is considering that insulation will be used 85% of the time in QLD for getting the house colder and not using too much air-con. So far we are sitting with Simonds but we are also considering other builders, we are open for suggesting on anything that can come to your mind. The original idea was to have a 4bed/2.5bath/2carpark. Ground floor with 1 small living which can convert as a guest bedroom, double garage, powder room, kitchen with butler pantry (probably trying to make as all electric), family and dinning with alfresco closed by staking door (I also want the alfresco to be at same level as the floor in dinning/kitchen) 1st Floor I like to have my master bed in front and the other 3 at the back/side + 1 bathroom. I would like a big WIR near the ensuite bathroom. Here are a few items I have consider to upgrade: * upgrade of slit system to ducked air-con (not sure if this is necessary but it is a nice to have, I am not sure if we could have something else which does not use too much electricity but still cold/heat down enough in an automatic way) * upgrade of gas hot water system into a electric heat pump system * use of ceramic tile in bathroom/laundry and ensuite * Ceiling insulation to be at least R6/10mm plasterboard/Eaves 5 mm FC sheet * Wall insulation to be at least R2.5 * Furring channel system addition * upgrade of windows into low solar gain low e or double glazed with aluminium frame. * Timber floor downstairs and carpet upstairs. Additionally, we will have to do 70% render for the front as per estate requirements and can use up to 20% brick as well as 10% of timber, side can be paint only. I have seen brick veneer is not the best for insulation, what could I use instead which will be not too pricey and style a good look? See below our disclosure plan, the driveway will have to be on the right end side as per developer requirement so we will have to flip the design below Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Newbery 27 (255m2) from Simonds The cons of this design is that WIR for Masterbed is too small and there is no much room to upgrade. same for the WIP. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Wright 28 (265m2) from Simonds This one allow us to have much bigger space in WIR and WIP but is about 5-6K more too. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Please let me know what you would do in term of changes to make that project to make it better in term of energy efficiency. Let me know also if you have good feedback/experience from your builder. I am trying to get the project at a total cost of 265K total budget. Thank you. Florian Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 2Aug 16, 2020 6:11 pm We have been busy browsing around and found a really good design to fit for our land/budget with Pantha home (they are small family own business and I am sure how good or bad they are). (South/North facing) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What improvement are required for this house not to heat too much? Windows orientation/type, eaves, would you add roller shutter/Blinds? I have requested to have R5 on ceilling and R2.5 for the wall insulation. Would you believe this is enough? Would you move the alfresco on the est side instead of the west? Let me know your thoughts. Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 3Aug 16, 2020 6:18 pm We have built with pantha twice and hope to again soon We minimised windows to W and tinted the ones we do have. The impact from the sun will depend what you have next door and how close to the boundary they are. The tinting does help though, but we still have block out blinds for mid summer - this time of yr its beautiful though. Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 4Aug 17, 2020 10:55 am Thank you Alymei for your feedback. I quickly checked some of your house picture, your house in Ipswich looks gorgeous! We are not very far, in Bellbird Park... The lady from Pantha said we could not change the structure otherwise this was going to be a custom build and cost more money so we only think to upgrade that plan with a butler WIP. Would you also think that moving the alfresco on the other side would reduce some heat (we are going with a cornerless stacking door and a zero boundary on the right. We do have neighbour on the left already (single storey house) but nobody yet on the right. For the colour of the facade, I was thinking to use dark brick for the porch and on garage side, brown for garage and main door (true timber colour), beige colour for the wall. Not sure yet if I go with a dark colour for the roof (I am scared that it may heat more). Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 5Aug 17, 2020 4:26 pm I would leave alfresco as is, my understating is that it will help keep the kitchen/family cooler by shading them. The insulation should help offset the dark colours - we too went dark bricks and roof and had trouble meeting the energy efficiency at certifying stage. Definitely consider tinting though Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 6Aug 18, 2020 10:09 am Thank you for taking the time to post some feedback. That is really appreciated. We have requested following upgrades:
I have requested landscaping to be removed and may remove blinds too (I would probably better to do that by myself) What have you requested to upgrade/remove from the standard inclusion? Thank you again for your help. Regards Florian Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 7Aug 18, 2020 11:31 am I add lots - upgrade toilets, 1800mm bath, supplied my stone sink and pendant, exterior lights and kitchen tap. Also added Extra ceiling fans, insulation, extra gpos and lights, incl 1 in roof space. Added concrete to exterior. Shower niches and niche to bath, smartwaste to floors, upgraded kitched to Venette, 1200w entry door, screens, ducted the rangehood to exterior - that was some of the things. Remember to add softclose drawers. I exclude landscaping, blinds Re: New Build Double storey (Energy efficient/passive design 8Aug 18, 2020 4:02 pm Thank you Alymei. That is very helpful again. I have emailed the sales lady and will see what she comes back with. I will post as soon as I get a new update. Cheers Florian 1 4589 Hi Kristy Around $1.7-1.8m or around $4,600/sqm. if you PM me your email I will send you a break up in a spreadsheet so you can get an understanding of the costs for… 1 9979 0 4986 |