ᐅ Opinion on the House Design

Created on: 20 May 2016 00:30
R
reeneex
Hello to all interested readers,

For about half a year now, my wife and I have been planning our new home. We have found a nice plot of land and have also decided on the building style (Ytong kit house). Initial contact with the company has been made.
Now the first draft from their architect has arrived, and we find it far from satisfactory.

Our goal is a KfW 40+ house on a slope, with a slight incline of about 3m (10 feet) over the first 5m (16 feet) in depth, then another 2m (7 feet) incline over the remaining 30m (98 feet) of depth.

- Front side facing southwest
- Lower floor planned as a full story, possibly to be converted into an apartment later. At the moment, it will be used as a guest room and office
- Roof of the office = terrace

Garage as an attached structure with a flat roof.
I’ve attached some pictures. The draft itself was created with MeinHeim3D V3. Unfortunately, I can’t upload that here. I also have plans in PDF if that helps.

The architect says that our draft is unfavorable because of the protruding office and the garage. This would be bad from an energy perspective.
Now I am under the impression that with good insulation, a lot can be achieved and that with KfW 40+ the final energy value counts, so I can compensate for some losses in the building envelope by the technology used.

Am I seeing this wrong?

3D house model with brown shingle roof; opened exterior wall shows staircase and interior.

3D house model with terrace, wooden doors, wooden windows, and garage on green ground.

Two-story house with dark roof, terrace, exterior stairs on grassy platform in the sky.

3D house on grass plateau at cliff edge; grey two-story house with brown roof.
R
reeneex
22 May 2016 11:50
Our goal for the KFW standard is future self-sufficiency. This means solar panels with battery storage, controlled mechanical ventilation, underfloor heating (electric or water-based), pellet heating with water connection for winter or additional heating if needed, and possibly a CO2 geothermal heat pump. That’s why we want to invest more now at low interest rates to avoid electricity costs in the future, or maybe even earn income through feed-in tariffs.

The individual rooms are generally flexible. A separate office with its own entrance is important, as well as a large living-dining room with access to the terrace, a terrace or balcony, a separate toilet, and the possibility to convert or expand the basement later for an additional apartment. These are the main priorities.
P
Payday
22 May 2016 11:54
What budget have you imagined? What you are planning will easily reach 500,000+
R
reeneex
22 May 2016 12:29
Ytong is among the preferred choices, partly because it allows for significant self-construction.

The plot is approximately 26 meters (85 feet) wide and 35 meters (115 feet) long, with the street side sloping upwards from south to east.
Lageplan eines Grundstücks mit rechteckigem Gebäudegrundriss am Straßenverlauf

Grünes Feld mit Bäumen, Straßenzug und Dorf im Hintergrund

Offenes Grasland mit Straße, Baumreihe und sanften Hügeln im Hintergrund.
K
kbt09
22 May 2016 18:54
Do I understand the elevation points correctly?

Small floor plan of a residential house with street names.


The frame would represent your plot size.

Attached are some side views again. Will the terrain need to be raised to a certain extent? It would have to be if you want the garages at street level height.

Small light gray 3D house model on a green slope under a blue sky.


3D house model on sloped landscape with green terrain and blue sky.
tomtom7922 May 2016 18:56
A small note: the surface area of a hipped roof is probably too small for a self-sufficient photovoltaic system. However, I have only heard this secondhand.
K
kbt09
22 May 2016 19:13
@reenex, one more question: How far do you plan to position the garage/house from the street?