I just calculated True South for the land we bought, and it turns out that it’s a little further to the right than I hoped. Because of that, the idea of building our house straight north/south on the lot is not that appealing – we’ll only achieve 60% or so of solar gain possible. But we can’t just turn the house or else whoever builds on the lot next to us will have ample views into our house.
So the alternative is…yep…find another house plan that allows for the angle of true south and enables us to increase solar gain. I tell ya, I’m learning a LOT by studying up on this. I keep seeing the same stock plans over and over again, and while I’m hoping to save us money by doing our own plan using ideas from a stock plan, it may just end up being more efficient to consult a green architect (green meaning environmental, not inexperienced) to help us plan a passive solar house on that lot. But I’ll keep trying…I’ve done about five or six plans at this point – what’s one more?
My brother is a “green architect,” but he does schools and libraries and other public spaces…no houses. His office works with the lights off. đŸ™‚ It would save you time and headaches to hire one of those, but definitely not money. I’d stick to the stock plans if I were you…are there many green stock plans out there?
No, not many green houseplans – the ones I’ve seen are hideous. I managed to find a website tonight of an architect that will give you free advice on your homeplan and then charge you if you opt to have him draw up the final plans. So I may email him our current floorplan and see if he has any ideas.