If you were to build your dream home.....

[KellyB]

....what self sufficient/eco things would you just have to have??? (I will be keeping this thread for the future when we build our dream home as hubby is a builder) Anything from building materials to decor

Hope this is in the right place if not please move me

[Helsbells]

I would personally want a wood burning Rayburn or the like in the kitches to heat the hot water and central heating. I would also go for solar panels for electricity. aI would also set up some kind of system to collect raid water to use in the toliet for flushing.

[eccentric_emma]

Ideally I'd like a cob house, with a compost loo. And lots of sparkly jingly jangly things hanging around the place to make it even more pretty!

[Annpan]

We are in the process of telling our architect what to build for us, here a few things...

The biggest south facing windows we can manage, and suitable blackout blinds for those hot days (few and far between in Scotland) The windows let in the maximum light and heat as is possible.
Tagged to the heat from the windows, you need a thermal store, we plan on bare stone wall that the sunlight will heat up and the heat is released during the night.

Solar hot water, the simplest and most convenient way of capturing heat from the sun.

Insulation, insulation and insulation... We have already insulated the front wall in the house (thanks ina ) but our roof is un-insulated. There is no point in trying to heat your house an eco-friendly way if the heat goes out through the roof. My sister re-built her house (or rather my BIL did) and he put in twice the insulation that was needed to pass building regs. We go to there house in the winter and the body heat and the oven being on is enough to heat the whole house, we end up having to open windows.

Decor wise, lime plaster and paint are gorgeous (we used St Astier, which we got from a specialist lime building supplier up here) I would also go for lime render. Ideally I would build in local stone but it ain't gonna happen, so we are planning a timber frame, we haven't decided how to clad it yet though.

There are loads of eco friendly products on the market, but, like us you will have to consider cost, building expertise, building suppliers,building regs, etc, etc. We decided it would be a living nightmare trying to get something past the planners so we are going for an eco-ish mainstream option.
In a dream world, I would love a cob house.

I would love to have reclaimed wood on our floors, oiled, not varnished.


Oh there is sooooo much more but I have to go now.... I might be back later to add to the list

[LBR]

Mmmmm, what a nice subject. A pioneer cabin with a front porch, shutters that close. A pump at the kitchen sink from my own spring or creek. A spring house for keeping things cool, or at least a root cellar. Shade trees, fruit trees, olive trees, vegetable garden.

Outhouse and an indoor self-composting toilet. Giant, double laundry sink with a hand wringer in between the sinks. A clothes line on the back deck, so I wouldn't have to walk in mud.

Rocks around the house, so I wouldn't have to cut grass. No lawn at all. Just native vegetation.

A smokehouse, a large barn.

All this on enough land so that the buildings aren't visible from the road.

Kerosene lamps, bees wax candles.

Main living area, alcove for studying, kitchen/dining, bedroom. Sleeping room with its own outside door, either self-contained, or off the barn, in case someone comes to visit.

No tv or satellite radio. Shortwave, maybe ham radio. Don't know about phone and internet, perhaps no to those, too.

Sturdy bicycle, or large tricycle for going around the property.

Don't need fancy contraptions, just the capitol for the purchase and the courage to step away even more.

Looking forward to reading of others' dreams.

[camillitech]

Before planning the house how about finding the location first, southern aspect for solar, on a hill for wind, near a stream for hydro with a bit of woodland for coppicing, near the sea for plentiful food but high enough not to be affected by rising sea levels

[contadino]

Before planning the house how about finding the location first, southern aspect for solar, on a hill for wind, near a stream for hydro with a bit of woodland for coppicing, near the sea for plentiful food but high enough not to be affected by rising sea levels

Exactly. Location and aspect are key.

Then I'd approach these guys and get them to design me something of an earth house.

http://www.erdhaus.ch/main.php?fla=y&la ... earthhouse

Enough space for Tinky-winky, Lala, and whatever the other one is called.

[KellyB]

contadino: poo that's what my hubby calls the red one lol

One thing I would like is one of those fab waste disposal units they call em P.I.G.S I may have to have two though cause they might get lonely yea ok they are gonna make fab rashers of bacon one day but I want them to have a lovely life. Hubby wants geese and a lemon tree doesn't take much to please him

Keep the ideas coming there is so much I never knew existed. I love the window idea with the stone wall that would be wonderful.

Location we don't know yet we are sill trying to decide which country I doubt it will be GB though I want to live outdoors without getting wet and cold ducking awaiting the backlash lol

[Rod in Japan]

Having a walk-in closet right next to the front door makes life very civilized. You can keep all your shoes, boots, coats, work clothes and a lot of tools in there, completely out of sight but right to hand. This is what we insisted on when we built our house, and visitors generally exclaim in surprise when we show it to them, because they utterly fail to notice it. If we could do things over, I'd want a foot washing area with a hot tap in there too.

If your family are all agreed on function over form, having a very big porch with storage and amenities in it makes going outdoors to start work very easy, and also hassle-free when you come back in.

Rather than composting toilets which look odd and probably don't work that well, a conventional toilet leading to a leach-field seems a better option. You can put the lemon tree on the edge of the leach field.

[Odsox]

I only have one thing to add to what's already been said.
A large walk in larder/pantry next to your kitchen on the north side of your house.
It's totally old fashioned and never included in new house designs, but totally indispensable in my opinion.

[DominicJ]

Depends on money, space and location.

If you live in scotland, next to a raging torrent of a river and you own all the river where it happens to fall 20 metres, then solar PV panels are probably a waste, Southern Spain, they may work well.
A Log Burning AGA makes sense if you own 50 acres of land and can plant a woodland, less so if you live in central london and own a tree.

If I were building a home, I would be looking at block block brick with double cavity insulation, rather than timber frame and cladding.
Its quite amazing how much energy can be saved by simple building the home well, they dont qualify as "eco homes" but the ones built in partnership with The National Trust at Stamford Brook are amazingly efficient, simply from being more air tight than normal.

[Eigon]

Ever since I first saw one, I've wanted a whisky barrel house like the ones at Findhorn in Scotland. These are the huge casks where the whisky is aged, and they're topped off with a conical copper roof.
I've always wanted to live in a round house.

[Thomzo]

Lots of great ideas already. I can only add a few:

1) There was a house on Grand Designs where the floor and walls were "plastered" with lime plaster which had crushed recycled glass in it. It looked so pretty and helped to keep the rooms light. They also had work surface made from crushed plastic cups (or something), again it looked really pretty and very eco.

2) A huge laundry room. Preferably right behind the Rayburn. Run the flue pipe out of the back of the Rayburn and into the laundry room. Clothes dry in minutes and you don't have piles of washing everywhere. You can also use it for cleaning off home grown veg, keeping the kitchen a bit cleaner.

3) A greenhouse or conservatory attached to the house. Step out of the back door into the greenhouse and you can keep gardening in the rain.

4) Probably not very Ssish but if you drive, a garage attached to the house with a remote control door. If it's tipping it down or you get home late at night you can drive straight in, shut the door behind you and walk into the house. I persuaded my mother to do that and she's really pleased now; if she gets home in the dark she feels a lot safer.

How exciting. Good luck with the project. It'll be worth waiting for.

Zoe

[Green Aura]

I don't know if anyone remembers an episode of Grand Designs, a few years ago. The chap lived in Surrey or Sussex or somewhere like that, owned a wood from which he made a living making charcoal. After long negotiations he got planning permission to build a wooden, straw bale lined house which was my idea of heaven. It was a complete work of genius and unbelievably beautiful. It made me cry. The guy really knew what each different type of wood would be best for, and grew it all on site, with help from friends, students and oh how I want that house.
Maggie

[LBR]

I forgot to post that I'd want the dimensions of as many things as possible according to the Fibinacci sequences, the Golden Triangle, etc. It'd be a bit of heaven to have so much balance around. Aaaaaah.