West-facing block and energy efficiency

Dacitus123 · Feb 11, 2021 1:38 pm

Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster. There's such a wealth of information on here!

I'm curious if anybody has had experience working with a square-ish West-facing block. My Mum wants to KDR in Adelaide and wants to build an eco-friendly (8.5+ star) home.

Apologies if there's already a thread on this. I searched and found mostly deep West-facing blocks that could still benefit from North-South orientation.

My thinking at the moment is:

If the roof is East-West, solar output might be reduced
I feel like such a block would benefit from a wider, shallow house; so getting light in from the North might be an issue

I've attached a block diagram of our specific case, just in case my orientations weren't quite clear.

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bashworth · Feb 13, 2021 12:27 pm

Looks like a great orientation to me.

I would tend to build a house on the south half of the block with main rooms facing a garden on the north half.

Should get maximum solar output. . . . but will peak during day. If possible I would put one string of solar panels on a west facing roof to take advantage of late afternoon/evening sun.

Thylacene · Feb 13, 2021 1:29 pm

I would suggest an L shape, with garage, front door an utilities facing the street. Kitchen on the SE corner, bedrooms on the southern side, with North facing living areas and eaves calculated to prevent sunlight from mid Sept to early March.

L shape will allow for nth facing solar panels, with a separate string on the western side.

A vergola style opening roof on the nth side would allow for a substantial entertaining area that provides shade in summer and light in winter.

Bimbob · Feb 14, 2021 2:59 pm

response 1: Cost efficient.

Response 2: expensive but I like it more (cause it not my money

Dacitus123 · Feb 20, 2021 9:54 pm

Thanks all. I hadn't really considered either option. Lots to think about!