ᐅ Which House Concept? Fundamental Questions for Building a Home
Created on: 20 Sep 2019 11:53
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Luftpumpe
Hello everyone,
We are fortunate to own a building plot and are now facing the difficult choice of how to proceed. For several months, we have been researching, visiting model homes, and actively reading forums. When it comes to layouts and features, opinions vary greatly, and depending on budget and taste, the possibilities seem endless.
But when it comes to the fundamental question of how to build today in an affordable, efficient, and above all healthy way, there should at least be a rough consensus! From everything we have read so far, we would probably prefer to build a Thoma house (36cm (14 inches) Holz100 walls), but financially that probably won’t be possible.
When we look for alternatives, we are often told that KFW40 (KFW40 / Passive House standards) is not achievable, that breathable construction is impossible, and that a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system is absolutely necessary. Then, you keep searching and come across more “alternative” options like LowTec Bio Solar houses, which seems a bit too extreme for us.
We want to build a house free of harmful substances, and avoiding various materials is the best way to be sure that in a few years, nothing new will be found to be problematic. In this sense, a pure timber house does make some sense.
Then, the advice is that solar thermal systems are not worth it, so photovoltaic systems on the roof should be used instead. To make good use of that, a heat pump is necessary, and then air-to-air heat pumps are offered because geothermal with underfloor heating is so much more expensive. So, it’s either robbing a bank or making compromises.
And that’s exactly the kind of compromises we are looking for now. Who has chosen a particular building concept and for what reasons? Is a vapor barrier really necessary in the building envelope? Which heating and insulation technologies are still cost-effective today? And how do I create the healthiest possible indoor climate?
Thank you & best regards,
Luftpumpe
We are fortunate to own a building plot and are now facing the difficult choice of how to proceed. For several months, we have been researching, visiting model homes, and actively reading forums. When it comes to layouts and features, opinions vary greatly, and depending on budget and taste, the possibilities seem endless.
But when it comes to the fundamental question of how to build today in an affordable, efficient, and above all healthy way, there should at least be a rough consensus! From everything we have read so far, we would probably prefer to build a Thoma house (36cm (14 inches) Holz100 walls), but financially that probably won’t be possible.
When we look for alternatives, we are often told that KFW40 (KFW40 / Passive House standards) is not achievable, that breathable construction is impossible, and that a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system is absolutely necessary. Then, you keep searching and come across more “alternative” options like LowTec Bio Solar houses, which seems a bit too extreme for us.
We want to build a house free of harmful substances, and avoiding various materials is the best way to be sure that in a few years, nothing new will be found to be problematic. In this sense, a pure timber house does make some sense.
Then, the advice is that solar thermal systems are not worth it, so photovoltaic systems on the roof should be used instead. To make good use of that, a heat pump is necessary, and then air-to-air heat pumps are offered because geothermal with underfloor heating is so much more expensive. So, it’s either robbing a bank or making compromises.
And that’s exactly the kind of compromises we are looking for now. Who has chosen a particular building concept and for what reasons? Is a vapor barrier really necessary in the building envelope? Which heating and insulation technologies are still cost-effective today? And how do I create the healthiest possible indoor climate?
Thank you & best regards,
Luftpumpe
borderpuschl schrieb:
The main challenge was, on one hand, a sloped gallery Are there any photos of it in the forum? - otherwise, why not upload some?
hampshire schrieb:
Prefabricated house suppliers have – and that makes sense – a limited portfolio I would welcome a general return to standardized house types. It doesn’t have to be the rigid 62.5 cm (25 inch) modular grid, but: when houses from Smiths and Johnsons are 98 percent identical, you might as well go for 100 percent and get a fully optimized, repeatedly refined plan in return.
hampshire schrieb:
hewn wood Do you mean solid wood, processed by hand-hewing, instead of laminated beams?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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hampshire11 Oct 2019 17:17haydee schrieb:
Some major builders dismissed our hillside location from the start. They don't do anything as shallow as 27°. Behind our house, the slope is between 40° and 44°. Now that is quite a steep slope! Anyone wanting to place a single-story house halfway up that slope won’t find a standard solution.
Luftpumpe schrieb:
Do you have those on the roof now? The solar tiles – yes. From Autarq in Prenzlau. Regarding the objections mentioned: cable connections are not problematic, installation effort is lower, overall costs are higher. I always laugh about the claim that cable connections are a weak point. The same people drive cars. Nobody worries about how many connectors are in a car, which are dynamically stressed – but they do worry about cable connections safely installed underneath a sealed roof covering.
11ant schrieb:
Do you mean solid timber, processed like sawn wood, instead of glued laminated beams? Ultimately, it’s a somewhat more rustic look achieved by the “hewing” — whether it’s a load-bearing glued laminated beam or solid timber.
guckuck2 schrieb:
None of what hampshire listed is due to the architect’s capabilities. That is absolutely correct. You see things, like them, consider how you’d live with them, discard some, see new ones… That’s how it is when preparing for a building project. Our architect took this collection of ideas and, through dialogue with us, created a design that fits. Much was not realized, other things were. The approach “How can I achieve this...” was much closer to us than “That’s not possible... won’t work...”.
You certainly can’t dogmatically say there is only one correct approach. There are many very different houses that are perfectly right for their owners/residents.
hampshire schrieb:
In the end, it’s a somewhat more rustic appearance achieved through the "chopping" technique – whether it’s a load-bearing glulam beam or solid timber.I can’t quite picture that.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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Luftpumpe12 Oct 2019 08:3211ant schrieb:
I can't quite visualize that.Google Image Search: "chopped wood"
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hampshire12 Oct 2019 21:1211ant schrieb:
I can't quite picture that.No idea how the snapshot will turn out, I just took a photo over the dining table where there is some chopped wood. Similar topics