Ideas for building our own home
Layout
General Things
I would like to go upstairs to go to bed. This is probably negotiable if we're faced with the choice of having a cheaper or more environmentally-friendly house by having only one story.
A good house for us would have a lot, a lot, a LOT of well-made, built-in bookshelves. Can never have too many of those. Given our likelihood of wanting a passive solar design which will allow for little to no usage of electric lighting in the daytime, I'm pretty much figuring that any non-reflecting wall can be covered almost completely by books. Art and other decorations can always be placed sparingly on reflecting walls.
In general, one of the key reasons I want to either build a house, or do a down-to-the-studs remodel, is because I'm very fond of good built-in shelving, cabinetry, and other things for storage and organization. Taunton Press has a series of
idea books, and two that looked particularly interesting were the one on built-ins and the one on organizing ideas.
An observation deck on the roof would rock!
Windows
Good lighting is an absolute must for me, especially strong morning light where I sleep, particularly in the winter. Also important, especially if we remain in Scandinavia, is being able to block out light during the
lysenætter. There are many possibilities for this, such as the powered aluminum blinds at the feriewohnung we rented in Munich, or such as the sliding exterior panels, such as those seen on the
Glidehouse.
I also would very much like to have a window with a comfy windowseat, high enough up that I can peoplewatch from it and/or read there. Having this window recessed into some kind of alcove would be ideal, as would having built-in storage under the windowseat (large drawers are just about perfect for this purpose).
Lars also wants a place where there is a natural view over an open area, preferably southwards. Whether it be the dining room, bed room or reading nook, so long as an open view is part of the daily routine of the house. Preferably a view when you can see nature at play, e.g. over fields or a stream or something. At the very least not all boxed up!
Mudroom/Bryggers
Something that I've desperately been missing in the last few places we've lived is having what I grew up calling a "mudroom", and which most Danes call a "bryggers". This would be the one room in the house where the whole point is that it's messy, and that the mess doesn't really matter. Ideally, it would connect to both the kitchen and the outside, possibly via an attached garage, and be easily accessible to the garden. It would have a large sink for doing things like washing vegetables, larger cleaning jobs, etc. It's entirely likely that the room would contain a pantry of some sort, as well as a deep freezer if we had one. It could be a logical place to have laundry facilities, although a good-sized bathroom could also be a likely place; if it did contain the laundry facilities, it should have a place for hanging things up to dry when it's cold outside. It would most definitely be the place for messy pet stuff: litter box, food and water, dog bed, etc., such that they're not messing up the rest of the house.
Kitchen
For the degree to which I love to cook, love to cook for friends, and naturally gravitate towards my kitchen anyway, an open kitchen that is well-integrated into the living room is a must. I don't need a formal dining room (in fact, I consider it an utter waste of space), but it is important to me to have a layout that allows for an expandable dining table, with room to seat, well, many.
Some relevant books on the topic:
Susanka, Sarah. The not so big house : a blueprint for the way we really live; Not so big solutions for your home; Inside the not so big house : discovering the details that bring a home to life.
Energy-efficiency & Environmental-friendliness
An intriguing idea: The
Glidehouse. I like the very clean design; although this is an American designer, it would definitely fit well in Scandinavia. The modular building would obviously only work if we were back in the US, but the design principles could definitely be adapted. I like the slant roof with high, north-facing clerestory windows, as well as the use of passive-solar techniques.
The same designers also make something called the
Sunset Breezehouse. The most intriguing thing about this house design is, as quoted from their website, that "every major room has a private garden: bedroom gardens, private bath garden, entry garden, and a kitchen herb garden". This sounds just awesome to me, especially the kitchen herb garden.
There is also a rather nifty architect who makes
Tumbleweed Tiny Houses.
For a house in the Mid-West: Set up the drier such that the wet, warm exhaust air can be sent into the house instead of out in the winter. The winters are so dry and cold it's a waste to not do so.
Extra buildings
I really, really want to try making a straw bale house. It sounds fan-bloody-tastic. And I dare any wandering wolf to try to blow it down.
It would also be cool to have a gazebo with fangs!
Some useful links
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
Some general books:
Angela Dean. Green by Design
Trulove, James Grayson. Sustainable homes
Gefke, Jette. Ø arkitektur : byøkologisk guide for Jylland og Fyn
ed. by David Gissen. Big & Green : toward sustainable architecture in the 21st. century
Kibert, Charles J. Sustainable construction : green building design and delivery
Bech-Danielsen, Claus. Ecological reflections in architecture : architectural design of the place, the space and the interface
Lori Ryker. Off the grid : modern homes + alternative energy
Cindy Harris and Pat Borer. The Whole house book : Ecological building design & materials
Aggerholm, Søren. Energi og arkitektur : en eksempelsamling af nyere byggerier
Petersen, Rikke Enevold. Opvarmning af enfamiliehus : Solvarme, Luftvarme, Stokerfyr, Jordvarme
Güldenstein, Henning. Lavenergibygninger klasse 1 : aktive besparelser, passive huse
Smith, Peter F. Eco-refurbishment : a guide to saving and producing energy in the home
Dominique Gauzin-Müller. Sustainable architecture and urbanism : concepts, technologies, examples
Teknologisk Institut, Energi m. fl. Lavenergihus 2010 : forprojekt
Schmitz-Günther, Thomas. Økologisk byggeri : ideer, eksempler, tips, vejledning
Brenda and Robert Vale. The new autonomous house : design and planning for sustainability
Kim B. Wittchen, Søren Aggerholm. Det Højisolerede Glashus : Egebjerggård, Ballerup
Sue Roaf, Manuel Fuentes and Stephanie Thomas. Ecohouse 2 : a design guide
Roaf, Susan. Ecohouse: A Design Guide
Clark, Sam. Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way
Schaeffer, John. Real Goods Solar Living Source Book: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living
Chiras, Daniel D. The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes
Pearson, David. The Natural House Catalog: Everything You Need to Create an Environmentally Friendly Home
Potts, Michael. The New Independent Home
Underwood, Lynn. Homebuilding Debt-Free
Solar Energy
Passive Solar (Heating, warm water, ventilation)
M. Santamouris. Solar thermal technologies for buildings : The state of the art
Chiras, Daniel D. The Solar House : passive solar heating and cooling
Colin Porteous, Kerr
MacGregor?. Solar architecture in cool climates
Kachadorian, James. The Passive Solar House
Van Dresser, Peter. Passive Solar House Basics
Active Solar (Electricity)
co-editors: Anne Grete Hestnes, Robert Hastings, Bjarne Saxhof. Solar energy houses : strategies, technologies, examples
Geothermal exchange (heating, ventilation)
Anne-Grete Elvang. Focus på varmepumper
Graham, Ian. Jordvarme og bio-energi
Clausen, Inge-Lise. Varmepumper i kombination med andre VE-teknologier : kombineret varmepumpe- og solvarmeanlæg til parcelhuse fase 2-4
Morris, Neil. Jordvarme
Dickson, Mary H.. Geothermal energy : utilization and technology
Efficient non-AC cooling
- Solar-blocking electric blinds (if we live far south enough to necessitate them)
Partial earth insulation
Wells, Michael. The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect's Sketchbook
Davis Caves Construction. Earth Sheltered Designs
Wampler, Louis. Underground Homes
Reynolds, Michael. Earthship: How to Build Your Own; Earthship: Evolution Beyond Economics; Earthship: Systems and Components
King, Bruce. Buildings of Earth and Straw: Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Straw Bale Architecture
Easton, David. The Rammed Earth House
Garden ideas
Relevant books:
Mollison, B.C.. Introduction to Permaculture
Morrow, Rosemary. Earth User's Guide to Permaculture
Creasy, Rosalind. The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping
Whitefield, Patrick. How to Make a Forest Garden
Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine; The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields
Coleman, Eliot. Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long; The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener
Poisson, Leandre. Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way
Lovejoy, Ann. Naturalistic Gardening: Reflecting the Planting Patterns of Nature
Daniels, Stevie. The Wild Lawn Handbook: Alternatives to the Traditional Front Lawn
Stein, Sara. Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards; Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology
Bormann, F. Herbert. Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony, Second Edition
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MickeyBlake - 13 Aug 2006
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