In this series on Looking Back & Looking Forward, we are reviewing a green home we built over 2 years ago, the lessons learned and more importantly, how we can (or even how you can) utilize those lessons on future builds. Now that we have a set of building plans for an Energy Efficient Green House to work off, we can now get to laying out the building on site.
Layout – isn’t it all on the plans?
Well in some cases it is, while most of the time it isn’t – generally the overall building layout is found on an item called a Plat Map. A Plat map is a scaled map that shows the property lines, easement restrictions (locations of utilities, right of ways, etc…), and the location of the house in relation to all those items. The one big catch though is that the layout is on a piece of paper. You have to actually take what is on that paper & apply it to the site. While this may seem easy, I have seen some real doozies where parts of the house were built on an easement, the property line, or in a few cases, the neighbor’s yard. Can anyone say – lawsuit?
The most important step:
If you are building a new house, adding an addition, etc… the first people you need to call are the surveyors. The Surveyors will first establish where the property lines really are. Based on that & following the Plat Map, they can then mark out where the house will be sitting, or area’s you cannot build on. While your excavation contractor essentially does the same thing (where your house will sit) when they layout for the foundations, they are generally not insured or covered if they make an error.
Location & Orientation:
If you have some room to play with, I recommend that you consider two main items. The first is the placement or location of your house on the land. The second main item is the orientation of your house. While these items sound similar, there are some subtle differences with huge implications based on your choices. For example;
- Location: While the sound of the creek is nice, you do not want to locate your house to close to it, if it puts you in the flood plain, trips a protected wetland regulation, etc…
- Location: While the top of the mountain offers a great view, make sure you have planned for larger wind gusts, clouds, and lightening.
- Location: Is there some trees on the property, you would hate to see cut down, or maybe a grove that would help cut down on the hot afternoon sun – consider not only the placement of your house, but the access and equipment required to build it.
- Orientation: If you live in the southern part of the country, you probably do not want the bulk of your houses windows orientated to the East without plenty of shade trees to help cut down on the heat from the afternoon sun.
- Orientation: If you have a few views on your new property that are to die for, make sure you can capitalize on them with either an exterior deck, the living room, kitchen or master bedroom windows.
Lessons Learned on ours:
Unfortunately, for this house the layout & orientation was already cast in stone. We were boxed in by a hill, a septic tank, and a few other issues. If we had a choice, it would have been nice to flip it 90 degrees to prevent having the windows all facing East & West. In fact, if the house were orientated that way, the house would have automatically been 2 percentage points better than it was based on the modeling software. Oh & the picture above – seeing I can’t find the blue print or plat maps I had filed away on my old PC, I am giving you a hint on the foundation system we choose.
An effective green orientation/site practice in my own latitudes (not that many up here actually think about these things, of course) is to face a house directly south for warmth in the winter, and plant deciduous trees in the front to block the sun in summer, but allow for sun in the winter after they've lost their leaves. And also a tight stand of conifers on the north side of the house to serve as a wind and snow block in the wintertime. I've had some experiences visiting older homesteads that were laid out this way, and it's amazing how much of a difference landscaping/planting choices actually seems to make in terms of energy conservation and overall comfort.
Thanks John, that or a slightly different combination on the north side is optimal in almost every location I can think of in the US, unfortunately as you so eloquently states “not that many up here actually think about these things, of course”. I think you can remove the “up here” and still be correct.
I know in Phoenix, it was great driving through Moon Valley or the historical section off Northern Central – you could actually feel the temperature drop 10 to 15 degrees due to the trees. Now it appears, everyone thinks that you need to clear off 3 to 5 times the houses size & pour in the largest concrete or asphalt drive you can come up with — and then they wonder why it always feels so hot out there.
Sean,
I would strongly consider a solar shade for any effected windows, here in CZ 4. Make the best of the plan. I like trees and would plant them, but a solar shade in the summer you can count on.
You can also use your solar orientation to spec different windows for different sides of the house. No reason to have all the same specs. Another (at this latitude) is to use a 4 foot eve instead of a two foot eve. Even on June 21 at noon, the shade extends to the ground.
Very good points John, but are you going to leave me any materials for later? In that regards, in general…
I love solar shades & even storm windows on older houses (and even some newer ones), the catch is that the homeowner needs to remove, clean, properly store, clean again & install yearly — you may also be interested in this article from John Poole's website below http://josephhawkins.blogspot.com/2010/06/perio…
I agree that one can spec different windows depending on the location, but what I have seen is that they can easily get mixed up, installed wrong etc… I will discuss the Low-E coatings in a later issue
Eve's or overhangs, I was thinking about mentioning them John D Poole's comments below – but seeing you brought it up – I really do not like real large overhangs to much. You have issues in the far north with the weight of the snow, ice dams, etc… Down here it is just a great big sail for the high winds to start tearing at the structure, wasp nesting grounds, etc… I am more in favor of wrap around porches, or at least a nice sized covered porch or entryway that are hopefully designed & structured properly.
Hi Sean,
Thanks very much for pointing to my article! Interesting points about eaves and overhang, BTW. I didn't really think very much about this until reading your comments, but in the case of my ancient home, the overhang is only about 2 feet, but the tops of the second floor windows are situated tightly under the eaves. So folks back in those days had it mind to attempt to block high sun angles in the summer, while still allowing low-angled sunlight to flow in during the winter. It's amazing to me how these subtle details were understood and practiced in the distant past.
~John
An effective green orientation/site practice in my own latitudes (not that many up here actually think about these things, of course) is to face a house directly south for warmth in the winter, and plant deciduous trees in the front to block the sun in summer, but allow for sun in the winter after they've lost their leaves. And also a tight stand of conifers on the north side of the house to serve as a wind and snow block in the wintertime. I've had some experiences visiting older homesteads that were laid out this way, and it's amazing how much of a difference landscaping/planting choices actually seems to make in terms of energy conservation and overall comfort.
Thanks John, that or a slightly different combination on the north side is optimal in almost every location I can think of in the US, unfortunately as you so eloquently states “not that many up here actually think about these things, of course”. I think you can remove the “up here” and still be correct. I know in Phoenix, it was great driving through Moon Valley or the historical section off Northern Central – you could actually feel the temperature drop 10 to 15 degrees due to the trees. Now it appears, everyone thinks that you need to clear off 3 to 5 times the houses size & pour in the largest concrete or asphalt drive you can come up with — and then they wonder why it always feels so hot out there.
Sean,I would strongly consider a solar shade for any effected windows, here in CZ 4. Make the best of the plan. I like trees and would plant them, but a solar shade in the summer you can count on. You can also use your solar orientation to spec different windows for different sides of the house. No reason to have all the same specs. Another (at this latitude) is to use a 4 foot eve instead of a two foot eve. Even on June 21 at noon, the shade extends to the ground.
Very good points John, but are you going to leave me any materials for later? In that regards, in general… I love solar shades & even storm windows on older houses (and even some newer ones), the catch is that the homeowner needs to remove, clean, properly store, clean again & install yearly — you may also be interested in this article from John Poole's website below http://josephhawkins.blogspot.com/2010/06/perio…I agree that one can spec different windows depending on the location, but what I have seen is that they can easily get mixed up, installed wrong etc… I will discuss the Low-E coatings in a later issueEve's or overhangs, I was thinking about mentioning them John D Poole's comments below – but seeing you brought it up – I really do not like real large overhangs to much. You have issues in the far north with the weight of the snow, ice dams, etc… Down here it is just a great big sail for the high winds to start tearing at the structure, wasp nesting grounds, etc… I am more in favor of wrap around porches, or at least a nice sized covered porch or entryway that are hopefully designed & structured properly.
Hi Sean,Thanks very much for pointing to my article! Interesting points about eaves and overhang, BTW. I didn't really think very much about this until reading your comments, but in the case of my ancient home, the overhang is only about 2 feet, but the tops of the second floor windows are situated tightly under the eaves. So folks back in those days had it mind to attempt to block high sun angles in the summer, while still allowing low-angled sunlight to flow in during the winter. It's amazing to me how these subtle details were understood and practiced in the distant past.~John