Designs and Plans
This is exactly the place where a green home is started, in the design phase. Now is the time to put your creativity and ecological convictions into play.
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Building plans. © Hillary Hosta |
The main principles of an ecological house.
A sustainable home can include geothermal heating, wind power and solar panels, but these are not the defining features of green living. They come in second, and some you can even do without. A green home starts with being well designed, well insulated, and well positioned to take advantage of natural heating and cooling effects.
Energy efficiency, insulation and orientation.
A sustainable home is one that uses minimal energy to heat, light and run appliances. The biggest factor is heating, so minimizing heat requirements is the best way to reduce our personal emission of greenhouse gases.
A house with 60% of its windows facing south (passive solar) may have its heating requirements reduced by as much as 25%. It's important that it be properly designed to avoid overheating though, or you will negate any heat savings with air conditioning in the summer. And a well-insulated, well-sealed building envelope is imperative to the performance of your home. If your windows are like sieves and your walls leak heat and moisture, those solar panels on your roof are little more than nice decorations.
A reasonably sized house.
We just can’t stress this enough — a smaller house is a more efficient house. A smaller house means less land to excavate, less materials to manufacture and ship, less space to heat, less space to cool, less taxes to pay, less to clean.
We do not suggest you live in a matchbox, but we can so easily reduce the national square foot average per person (presently 700) and still live quite comfortably by analyzing our needs and creating multi-space rooms.
A flexible house.
Our family size will change throughout our lives, and a flexible house is one that has been designed to change with you.You can reduce the financial and environmental cost of a big renovation by anticipating and designing for that moment right now.
Think about potential layout changes or where a future granny suite would be, and during your build you can run the necessary plumbing and wiring, along with framing future door openings. So when that day comes, rather than a major disruptive renovation, you already have the infrastructure in place to create a new bathroom and kitchen.This can also be an excellent resale feature, by making it easier for future owners to make those changes themselves.
Using reclaimed and local materials.
By re-using existing building materials and buying locally, you just became part of the green building trend. As we have said, green building starts at the design phase, so you can incorporate these materials into your future build.
Knowing what materials you will use ahead of time can save you some headaches, since you can make any necessary adjustments right away. If you have plans for old doors or some specific flooring material, you many need to adjust framing or floor heights. Old doors don’t always meet the standard openings and its best to know the exact sizes before you start building.
Designing your green home.
Whether you are designing your home yourself, or having a professional do it, remember the principles we’ve outlined above. Be sure to find a designer or architect that is aware of green building concepts or at least willing to allow you to direct the process.
Who will draw your plans?
Working with an architect:
An architect will provide you with full professional services, meaning: design, contract bidding, taking care of all contract documents and getting all permits and approvals.
However, they aren’t cheap so plan on spending approximately 10% to 12% of your total construction cost. There is also a risk here of getting talked into ideas that might not be what you originally envisioned.
Before signing on with someone, make sure you have either a good understanding of what you are looking for, or that there is a good working relationship where you are involved in the process. It is also important that the person you choose shares the same eco-vision as you.
Architectural technician or 'designer':
This route can be a lot more affordable than hiring an architect. You will probably pay in the area of $8,000 to $10,000 and plans will still comply with municipal regulations. This can be a nice option for smaller projects or renovations.
Their approach may be more mechanical, and less original than that of an architect. Once the plans are drawn, they will often relinquish responsibility and the ball is then in your court.
Purchasing pre-drawn plans:
This can be useful if you are looking for a standard house. It's a much quicker process and it is certainly an affordable option. On the downside, you likely won’t find plans that match your vision perfectly, and any changes to the existing plan means the price will be higher than you originally thought.
More importantly, these firms are not generally at the forefront of green design. But like everything else in the industry they will likely start following suit eventually, we just haven’t seen a lot yet. If you find some really good ones, let us know.
Drawing your own plans:
This can be quite fun and rewarding, and if you do your research you can get a great product that suits your lifestyle and needs quite well. Keep in mind it will be quite time consuming, and there might be a hefty learning curve if you’re new to it.
Some municipalities aren’t too keen on plans drawn by owners, so check what their requirements are before getting too deep into it. In addition, you may forget some key points so it can cost you a lot in the long run if you aren’t really careful.
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Kindly send to me green house plans to evaluate
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