ᐅ Opinions on Our Home Design

Created on: 17 Apr 2019 14:36
M
MuHaha202
Hello everyone,
we plan to start building our house within the next 2-3 years.
The location is about 20km (12 miles) west of Innsbruck in Tyrol. The plot is on a gentle slope. The house is planned for 2 adults and 2 children.

I apologize in advance. This is the very first step towards building our house. Of course, we have already researched and have some ideas, but we are not professionals. Our thoughts are still in the early stages and certainly have room for improvement, which is exactly why I’m here: I want to receive both positive and negative feedback as early as possible to design the best possible home for us.

A brief explanation of the attached image: Based on the initial information about the room layout and legal requirements, the sketch below is a first draft of the initial ideas. It was drawn with the limited tools I have available. The street side is north and the garden faces south. Due to the slope, the garage is accessed by car through the basement level, which is at the same height as the street.

The house will mainly be constructed using prefabricated steel segments. The east, south, and west walls of the basement will serve as retaining walls appropriate for the slope. The steel frame should already be in place on the north side. The entire house should be well insulated, although we are still unsure about the exact level or “class” of insulation.
A decentralized ventilation system should be installed in the basement, living/dining area, restroom, bathrooms, and bedrooms. The reason for a decentralized system is the desire to control the temperature in each room individually, as well as to accommodate different daily routines, etc.
The bathrooms will be heated with electric underfloor heating directly beneath the tiles, so the screed does not need to be heated. All other rooms will be heated with infrared heaters.
Regarding flooring: All rooms will have “warm” floor coverings, such as hardwood floors, linoleum, or cork. Naturally, the bathrooms will be tiled, which is why underfloor heating will be installed there.
Shading is planned for the living/dining area and bedrooms.
The entire building will have home automation (heating, shading, lighting, security system, etc.). Before anyone objects: I will try to do as much of this myself as possible. I have experience from my training with home automation and am a certified KNX installer. However, I plan to use Z-Wave as the standard in the house. The idea is to only heat rooms that are in occasional use minimally, for example, the multi-purpose/hobby room. Bathrooms will only be heated in the morning or evening, and only when someone is at home, etc., thereby saving energy.
Because a planned electric car and the heating system will result in significant electricity consumption, a 15kWp photovoltaic system is planned. The energy consumption will also benefit from a lighting concept using 100% LEDs. The current electricity price is about 14 cents/kWh, which is relatively low. For higher energy demands, there are alternative providers offering a higher fixed fee but a lower price per kWh. The plan is to switch providers if needed.

Please be patient with me. I’m not inventing these ideas myself; I have picked them up somewhere and they seemed logical and useful to me. In our region, these topics are quite unusual, so there is little local experience. That’s why I’m turning to the forum.

I hope you will help me develop our ideas.

Moderne Hausentwürfe: 3D-Modelle und Grundrisse mit Küche, Essbereich und Wohnzimmer.
M
Mottenhausen
18 Apr 2019 13:43
Your house budget is basically fine
MuHaha202 schrieb:

What surprises me is the price estimate. As I said, I knew it wouldn’t be feasible at that price. However, the estimate of 1.5 million was unexpected for me. I definitely need to double-check with my sources/acquaintances whether they misjudged the estimate/conclusion themselves.


The conclusion so far should be: your sources/acquaintances did not mislead you; they simply have no idea or don’t have an overview of the entire project, or they built 10...20 years ago. Please schedule an appointment with a general contractor, spend the 2 hours, and bring the floor plan and elevations with you. Shortly after, you will have a concrete and reliable offer. If you go to an architect, keep in mind that they might not provide a fixed-price guarantee but only an estimate (usually much too low to win the contract).

Many here build for 300K. That’s no problem at all. But that is a typical two-story single-family house with a pitched roof or a townhouse-style villa and without major luxury features.

With a proper upgrade budget, large window fronts, etc., it quickly becomes tight.

Unfortunately!
M
MuHaha202
18 Apr 2019 15:33
Really impressive!

I’ve rarely seen a forum with this much feedback. I want to emphasize again that you’ve opened my eyes. The construction method and heating system simply don’t work, neither financially nor functionally. I will definitely reconsider these points and redesign before we make any final decisions and approach the planner.
Tassimat schrieb:
Photovoltaics only generate significant electricity in summer if you do NOT want to heat.

What about the transitional seasons? There we have sun and it can help heat the house. Is that a wrong assumption?
Tassimat schrieb:
If the house blows your budget that much, what do you expect from the whole discussion?

Well, first of all, it was a lesson for me to see how far off I was from my budget expectations. The information about the heating system was also helpful, even though I haven’t completely ruled out infrared heating. Certainly, a heat pump with air-to-water (LWWP) will be preferred for the entire building. Infrared heating in the bathroom as a mirror supplement remains possible.
haydee schrieb:
The wardrobe is too cramped

Noted. It will be reconsidered. The current situation is exactly like that and works perfectly for US. That doesn’t mean other layouts couldn’t work better. We just aren’t used to anything else.
haydee schrieb:
Who plans to overheat the rooms?

The idea comes from the possibilities of building automation. Electricity is produced when I don’t need the energy. At the same time, there are rooms (e.g. bedrooms) that need heating when no energy is available. So when electricity is available, heat more than usual and use the room itself as a heat storage. Energy storage (electricity) is still too expensive at the moment, although it would make more sense. Night storage heaters were used in the past but seem useless to me for the transitional periods when I could use them.

Please keep in mind that my preference already definitely leans towards an air-to-water heat pump. Just explaining how I came to that conclusion.
haydee schrieb:
Does your zoning plan even allow such a house?

The zoning plan/planning permission is not yet finalized. The floor plan shown here has been discussed with the planner and complies with the requirements outlined in the draft plan for the next municipal council meeting.
ypg schrieb:
I think you have given a lot of thought to “How do I want to live?”... “How can I implement what I want for myself and my family?”

Exactly that. Unfortunately, with no experience at all, which is why I’m here, relying on the community’s expertise.
ypg schrieb:
You found alternative options online without researching whether the technologies or design elements harmonize.

That’s difficult for me. I may not be the best at online research, but I tried. I’m aware that my approach is rather unconventional. I suspected that’s why I found no information about my ideas. I found information for individual topics, but I am too inexperienced to decide if everything fits well together or not.

The friendly community has already done a good job providing helpful input.
ypg schrieb:
A very important element (although I don’t know if a mechanical engineer understands this) is solar energy trapped through the windows in the rooms.

I understand what you mean. The sun position on the plot is well known. With the current roof overhang, no sun enters the ground floor in summer, which is intentional because I want the house to stay as cool as possible in summer. In winter, the sun shines about 4m (13 feet) into the room directly. Both calculations are related to the solstice days.
ypg schrieb:
For laundry, storage and separation of dirty laundry is required, as well as storage and drying of clean laundry. Not everything is dryer-safe and has to be hung on a line. Then it can wait for ironing day (where, again, in the bathroom?). Are you aware of this process?

I’m fully aware and completely agree. If laundry was my task, I would not do it that way. My household tasks are mostly in the kitchen (I like cooking) and tasks where I can’t break anything, like vacuuming and mopping. J

Our laundry manager had a utility room in her parents’ home. Currently, our laundry is done in the bathroom (a renovated house we own). She prefers the laundry solution in the bathroom. It doesn’t bother me. If that’s what she wants, why shouldn’t she have it, especially since she knows both “systems.” J
ypg schrieb:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-unbedingt-vor-Beitrag-Erstellung-lesen.11714/

Other feedback:

I miss a place for the bed in the bedroom. The children’s rooms seem disproportionately large.

The open-plan ground floor is a narrow long corridor. A dark corridor.

The windows on the east and west emphasize the length.

The hobby room is not 15sqm (160 sqft) but 36sqm (388 sqft)?

There is a lack of storage space upstairs and on the ground floor.

The kitchen is too open to the neighbor.

Thanks for the link, I will adjust the floor plan accordingly. There isn’t much to change. J

The bedroom ONLY has a bed; everything else is in the walk-in closet. The circulation paths in the master bedroom area are deliberately tight. However, the current situation is similar and sufficient for us.

Is it helpful to note that we have custom-made carpenter furniture in the master bedroom, which, at least initially, will be taken into the new house?

The children’s rooms are intentionally large since they will likely spend a lot of time there and there is no separate playroom or similar. So, space for playing is important.

Windows on the east and west catch morning and evening sun, at least that’s the idea.

It’s true the hobby room is larger because it’s also used for storage.

The lack of storage space on the ground floor was noticed as well. Customized carpenter furniture will somewhat compensate for that. Storage space is being sacrificed for a larger garden. The family’s wish is for a usable garden.

There will probably be no neighbors on that side for a long time. Strict regulations due to a stream and very steep slope make development difficult.
ypg schrieb:
Then a roof terrace might not be possible!

According to the planner, a terrace on the garage roof at least is allowed. The regulations in the draft plan would permit it on the specific plot.
hampshire schrieb:
What I don’t like is the ‘function follows form’ approach. Much inside is impractical. The rooms somehow must fit into the exterior. Great design is ‘form follows function.’

Rather, the attempt is to build on a 400m² (4,305 sqft) plot with the legal restrictions, a house that still leaves usable garden space. By garden, I mean more than a 3-4m (10-13 feet) narrow strip of green grass around the house. I at least have 6m (20 feet) toward the south. With a more square building layout, the garden would face southwest. Due to neighboring buildings and location, much of the garden would likely be shaded in late afternoon. Additionally, the east and west sides of the house need to accommodate the terrain’s height difference. So there is hardly any usable garden there due to the steep slope.
hampshire schrieb:
The detail of the upper floor’s large overhang is technically complex if you want to avoid support columns.

Support columns would interfere but would definitely be acceptable. According to my research, steel construction is precisely strong in such overhangs. So it should be cheaper than other construction types. Unfortunately, I can’t find any numbers on this topic and therefore can’t estimate how the price develops with such overhangs in steel construction.

I do mean steel construction, not steel-reinforced concrete. A general steel construction provider for single-family homes has now been found and contacted. They have the information about the plot and our wishes. An appointment will be arranged as soon as the provider has a concept.
B
boxandroof
18 Apr 2019 16:11
I would first plan the house in broad terms, then coordinate with the technical systems.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Most likely, the preferred option for the entire building will be an air-to-water heat pump. Infrared heating in the bathroom as a mirror for supplementary heating is still conceivable.
Yes, that makes sense.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
What about the transitional period? We have sun then and the house can be heated by it. Is this assumption wrong?
Photovoltaics: the assumption isn’t wrong, but it’s more practical to focus the planning on the heating system. It can be optimized so well that additional measures hardly add any benefit. I would keep photovoltaics separate. During the transitional period and summer, the heating system uses little electricity but can of course consume what is available. Photovoltaics is almost always worthwhile in Germany; I’m not sure about Austria.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
The idea comes from the possibilities of building automation. Electricity is generated when I don’t need the energy. At the same time, there are rooms (e.g., bedrooms) that need heating when no energy is available.
The house has a lot of thermal mass. Simple night setback/day boost using the air-to-water heat pump across all rooms is completely sufficient. To enhance the effect, you can also consider concrete core activation. Everything else misses the point—even SmartGrid or similar for photovoltaics integration adds little if you handle it this way. For automation, you would have to include weather forecasting to achieve significant results.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Right now, the situation is that we have laundry in the bathroom
We built it that way too. The laundry stays where it is used and doesn’t have to be carried through the whole house. We don’t use the washer/dryer connections in the utility room, but I understand if someone wants to handle it differently.
H
haydee
18 Apr 2019 16:19
Please fill out the questionnaire. It is located in the floor plans subforum.

Have you ever been inside a passive house? You are planning one now, right?
You can’t compare passive houses to houses from the 80s or 90s.
A passive house is so well insulated that heat from people can actually cause overheating.
I’ll just tell you how it is for us.
Heating system: Stiebel Eltron LWZ 604 air or Tecalor TCO 2.5 (they have a pilot project system, now available). Bathrooms additionally have infrared mirrors.
No underfloor heating; supply air is preheated.
Indoor temperature around 20.5°C (69°F), centrally controlled, which you might prefer to avoid.
Bathrooms have infrared mirrors that switch on intermittently, just to make it more comfortable after showering or when the child is playing in the water.

Regarding the bedroom: The bedroom warms up by about 2°C (4°F) overnight, just from the heat we generate as people. So we keep the window slightly open. We almost always sleep with the window tilted open.

Photovoltaic system during the transition periods and winter:
On sunny days with temperatures above about 5°C (41°F), the pump runs without the compressor. At night, the compressor is active.
In bad weather, the compressor runs more, and your photovoltaic system produces little or no power.
Clear, ice-cold, sunny days with temperatures well below zero — when the backup power of the system might be needed during the day — are rare. This winter, it worked without backup power even at -17°C (1°F).
Don’t count the photovoltaic system as part of your heating system.

Some basic planning advice:
Visit model homes; from now on, look at every apartment and house you like or dislike. Does the door clash with the guest bathroom sink? Is the dining area too tight, etc.?
Draw your furniture to scale on every floor plan you create. Don’t just add a sofa if you want a large sectional. It makes a difference whether it’s an 80x80cm (32x32 inches) side table or a dining table for 12 people in the dining area.
What is worthwhile, since you want automation anyway: switch on dishwasher, dryer, washing machine, etc., when your photovoltaic system generates enough power.

Can you name a company or a search term? I’d like to look at example houses.
H
haydee
18 Apr 2019 16:21
boxandroof schrieb:


We built it that way, too. The laundry stays where it’s generated and doesn’t have to be carried through the entire house. We don’t use the washing machine/dryer connections in the utility room, but I can understand if someone prefers to handle it differently.

Small utility room on the sleeping level. No laundry traveling around the house and no piles or running washing machines in the bathroom.
Y
ypg
18 Apr 2019 16:30
MuHaha202 schrieb:
I will definitely reconsider and redesign these points before we make any final decisions and go to the planner.

Wrong! Before you as a layperson redesign anything, you should definitely involve experts — including for yourselves. After all, you mentioned a fairly average budget, which already conflicts with a standard corridor construction.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
In winter, the sun shines directly about 4m (13 feet) into the room. Calculated for the solstice days.

Maybe for 5 minutes just before sunset... At noon on December 21, the sun is at its lowest angle of the year — about 45 degrees... it only reaches about half a meter (1.5 feet) into the open-plan room on the south side, or something similar.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Our laundry manager had a utility room in her parents’ house.

In the basement or upstairs?
MuHaha202 schrieb:
In the bedroom there is ONLY a bed, everything else is in the


That’s clear, but this bed has to be placed under a window, which isn’t ideal.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
The “traffic routes” in the parents’ sleeping area are intentionally narrow.

They are not narrow: the space between the two doors is almost unusable and only serves as a passageway.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Does it help to mention that we own custom-made carpenter furniture in the parents’ bedroom, which we at least plan to take into the new house for the time being?

No. But here’s a note that the walk-in closet is quite large relative to its usage, about 2 x 2 meters (6.5 x 6.5 feet).
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Meaning there should be space for playing.

That reflects in the budget. Space for four people primarily means hallway and wardrobe (stroller and such move in).
It should also be mentioned that an interior garage is not exactly an energy-efficient choice.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Windows on the east and west are for morning and evening sun. At least that’s the idea.

That’s clear. However, the neighbor might give you a hard time there.
MuHaha202 schrieb:
Custom carpenter furniture will help balance that out somewhat.


Again, a cost factor...
MuHaha202 schrieb:
According to the space planner, a terrace on the garage roof is at least allowed.

Then the fire safety regulations regarding setback distances must be different in Austria...?

I expect you’ll come up with a completely different concept later. But even then, you are a welcome guest here.

I’m curious! And looking forward!