Preliminary house design
DESIGN
DESIGNING OUR VISION
I've talked with a number of friends about the construction and remodeling process. Most of them hate it. Too many decisions. Too difficult.
It's true that there are a zillion decisions to take in designing a house, and then another zillion steps to take in building it. It's very easy to get overwhelmed and not know which way to turn. The key is to develop a vision about what you want, then build towards that vision (as Bill Murray was repeatedly told in "What about Bob") one baby step at a time.
BUT WHAT IS THE VISION?
I wanted a passive solar home. My wife wanted a contemporary design. So far, so good. But now what?
We were fortunate to have an enthusiastic young architect, Tonino Vicari, who guided us through the process.
We started by doing light studies on the lot, defining where the light fell at various times of the day throughout the year.
We then defined where and when we wanted the light in individual living spaces. We felt most strongly about having east light into the kitchen and dining rooms, so we ended up building a courtyard around an existing magnolia tree on the lot, connecting the main body of the house with the garage through a breezeway. This not only saved the lovely magnolia, but it also allowed a wonderful east light and a beautiful view of the magnolia tree.
We also wanted handicap accessible main bedrooms and a bathroom. We were interested in designing the house so that we could have our parents live with us in their older age.
DESIGNING. AND RE-DESIGNING
We eventually came up with a design that had everything on one floor. That had been a component of our vision. At the time, we were living in a condo on three levels, and we were tired of climbing up and down steps.
We started showing the design around. I showed the design to Ron Brown, a good architect friend in Carmel, California. He said it didn't work. Too sprawling for that size lot.
So we started over.
GETTING THE DESIGN DONE
Eight months after starting, we finally completed the design in August 2002, just in time to catch the end of the construction season. I wanted to get the house framed and closed in before the winter snows fell.
Our final design had a number of Green features, including:
- Tinted concrete flooring: acts as a thermal heat sink, keeping the house warm on winter nights and cool during summer days.
- Metal roof and siding: We chose a steel roof and siding; this was made out of recycled materials, and much more recyclable than vinyl siding. In a limited number of spots (around the courtyard), we also used reclaimed barn wood for siding.
- Radiant floor heat: Much more comfortable than traditional forced air heat, it is also more energy efficient.
- 6" walls with cellulose insulation: This provided 50% more insulation than typical walls, made from recycled newsprint.
- Low E Windows: These are much more energy efficient than traditional windows.
- Moveable window insulation: We put insulating window shades on most of the windows, to reduce night-time heatloss.
- Air to Air Heat Exchanger: This provided fresh air to the house, pre-heating it with stale air that was exhausted.
- Raingarden: A raingarden was built at the front of the house, to collect water running off from the roof of the garage.
- Energy Star appliances: Efficient appliances were used throughout the house.