How is the house placed on your block of land. For example, what is the distance from laundry to the side of your property?

Hi @dreamer, will this give you a better idea? I would love to answer you but afraid i might misinterpreted your question, sorry 😔

@dreamer

That saddens me because it has been a requirement for many years for new builds to achieve a certain minimum energy rating, and the cheapest most effective way to do that is to have good solar orientation. I first visited a solar passive display home about 35 years ago, and have seen many more since, it's not a new concept. I have also visited many display homes that meet the energy rating requirements on paper but are not well oriented and are uncomfortable on hot days, especially upstairs.

Where is your location, what climate are we talking? If you're concerned about airconditioning, cooling, your biggest problem is going to be the west facing windows. North facing windows are shaded by the eaves in summer and let valuable winter sun in, that's an important passive function of solar orientation. For windows facing other directions you need specific solutions. West is the worst because it gets the afternoon sun. Ideally you need external shading in summer, which has an additional cost and affects the external appearance. Can you post the upstairs plan as well?

Hi @macyjean, thank you.

Yes, I'm pretty sad as well not knowing anything when we decided to buy the land & then proceeding with the build. We are building in south west Sydney.

Then we will have a trouble with big sliding door + big window on western side 😭. May i know what kind of external shading are you talking about? Thank you

@Black Bamboo

Yes, i just realised the bad news after reading more about passive solar design.

Rear garage is council requirement. We did asked the builder to fit it in the front of the house but the driveway also needs to meet some requirement which unachievable being a corner block.

Asked to detached the garage and push it all the way to the back. Again, the setback is not big enough to meet council requirement for a detachable garage.

This plan is also approved by private certifier to be built next Feb. I don't know whether we still can make such a big changes at this point.

Feeling quite defeated at the moment 😭

Thanks so much for your input @Black Bamboo

Apologies in advance for my question here, by saying large glazing, do you mean the window or sliding door?

Do you reckon half wall with large window on northern side good enough if we were to pushed the garage to be at alfresco level? This question is to anticipate if we cannot come to an agreement over carport 😊

As for lounge room, we aren't really planning to use it as lounge room but more as kid's napping room.

Again, really appreciate your feedback 🙏

Yes I see it is a corner block. As mentioned by @black bamboo. Remove the large window and the sliding door on the west side. You have hardly any useful space for a garden to walk out to, anyway, so have the high long windows and a single door to exit that side from the living. Have a pergola built the west length of the home when you move in, and plant climbing plants to cover the pergola. This will help keep the west side of your home cooler.

It also appears a bit weird to have your laundry on one side of your home, and the clothes drying area on the other. If you can't move the clothes drying area to outside the laundry, then close up that exit door in the laundry, and give yourself more internal room.
But, if you can move the drying area, I would suggest you build a wall along the boundary line on the west side, and put the clothes drying area on that west side. It is a long and skinny area, which will not really be very useful. This will give the east side more room for entertaining.

Upstairs, take out the west window on bedroom 2. It doesn't require two windows.
You have said that you are signed up and ready to build. So, if you can not make any changes now, that is a shame. But changing windows out would be the best thing to do. Then when the home is finished, install shading, by planting lots of tall trees, or a covered structure to keep the west wall shaded.

Example of wall on boundary, and then a patio structure inside your land, with shading tall trees or creeping plants.
Also example of changing placement of the drying area.

It's all bit late and will end up costing you a whole lot more not to mention the delay to building.

research Vergola Pergola, these are retractable pergola's which protect the interior from the summer sun and allows winter sun to penetrate. My open plan dining room is South facing and has lovely soft light which suits it and your living room, Look at this system to help with any west facing windows on the first floor

Thanks @Black Bamboo

Will definitely talk to our builder next year for the possibility of those changes. Thanks again for your input & time 🙂

@dreamer

We definitely can change the position of drying area, confirmed it with our builder.

We'll have to pay up to $2k admin fee for any changes plus whatever cost there might be. Guess we'll have to weigh between options.

Anymore changes in your opinion? If we have to pay to make 1 change even just to take the window out, we might as well go all out 😂 (small important changes without the need for summitting new approval to certifier?)

🙏

Thanks @siriuskey

Will definitely look it up!

Yes, you are right. Any changes will costing us money & delay but i still want to talk to our builder for options.

I remember Vergola was the original, but a number of manufacturers now make that style of adjustable louvre pergola. What you want is to be able to let the sun in during winter. For that same reason if you plant anything for summer shade choose deciduous trees/vines. The drawbacks are adjustable shade structures cost more and deciduous shade plantings take a few years to grow to a useful size and make for more work in autumn.

Are you having double glazing?

Hi @macyjean

No double glazing windows for us 😔

I briefly checked yesterday, those vergola will probably cost us quite a lot & we obviously not in the position to get it done for awhile after we move in

A friend had plans drawn and approved ready to start early Jan but then decided they wanted/needed to make changes which included doors and windows. They had to have new plans drawn to go back to council, approx 6 weeks later council has now passed this over to the certifier to approve/sort ventilation and light. So they now have the extra costs of new plans, council fees and the certifier plus delays have added thousands of dollars. External blinds plus Vergola style pergola along with planting could end up being a more affordable option for you.

Yes, its quite daunting. We were talking about it last night & thought it might be the case for us.

Did contacted Vergola asking for quote as well, hopefully they can quote off the plan. That way, we can make the comparison.

In saying that, we also decided to talk to our builder as soon as they come back to work & see what will happen if we decided to make the changes

Building a new home isn't for the faint hearted it is an exciting,expensive and challenging, hopfully you can sort things to suit your pocket and what you would like in your new home

@Cen T, understand completely about extra costs.
So....without changing the house plans and west glazing.

Install a shading structure on the west side, to stop the sun reaching the glass. Plant trees on the boundary that will eventually grow tall enough to shade home.
Upstairs on bedroom 2 west facing window, install a roller shutter on outside of window.

These changes can be done after you move in. And will not hold up the build. But will definitely improve the internal comfort of your home.

Also, good news about changing your drying area.

@siriuskey

You are absolutely right 😁😁😁

It does quite a hard work for us since we know nothing about building, trying to learn as much as we can but not even touching the tip of the iceberg here 😂

Thanks so much for your input 🙏

@dreamer

Reading your very comment lift a big rock of my heart, i was very worry to the point i couldn't sleep last night.

I know ideally it's best to get rid of those glazing, if condition permits, we would definitely get them changed. Will still talk to our builder though...

Thanks again for your valuable input.

As I said, Vergola is not the only brand these days. A cheaper alternative but more work is to get a basic pergola and put shadecloth over it in summer and take the shadecloth down in winter. Or grow a deciduous vine, or plant deciduous trees, but plants take a few years to get to a useful size.

The reason I asked about double glazing is the south facing windows. We get condensation in winter, especially on the large southern windows. Double glazing would reduce that. Where are you again? How cold are your winters?

Thanks @macyjean

Yes, i did research a bit, they are quite a bit of options out there.

Will be building in South West Sydney. Winter is usually mild, 3-17 degrees. Should we double glazed?

@Cen T
The council may dictate to you, what type of west structure would be allowed. Another alternative is Retractable Awnings. These are not classed as permanent structures in WA, not sure about Sydney.
I have them in my own home, remote controlled, and shade the hot summer sun, when required. Today we having another 39 degree day and are doing their job. (Western Australia)
All the best, with what ever you decide.

@dreamer

You are right, will have to find out about that as well.

I saw the same mechanism from Luxaflex. Will do our homework.

Thank you

Have you noticed condensation in winter? I imagine it's not as bad as in my colder climate, but I think I'd want double glazing on that southern master bedroom window. What size window is it?

Regarding the retractable blinds, luxaflex were the most expensive when I did my research. Look into other brands as well.

External Roller blinds a less expensive than retractable, check out your local blind supplier as they will know what to use in your area. You just need to keep the sun from hitting the glass to keep the interior cool on hot days, Internal blinds won't do that as once the sun hits the glass it heats up and the heat radiates back into the house

Shading can also be achieved with a simple timber or metal frame with removable shade cloth

Pergole in legno · More Info

@macyjean

Hardly any. Maybe because we are living in an unit at the moment?

It's 1460x2170

@dreamer, yes, will do, thanks

@siriuskey

Will check them out, thank you

Difficult block to get a good design onto. Privacy being a corner block, driveway entry point, etc. Even solar passive would be pretty average here (costs to achieve to retain privacy, etc) but you would get northern light. Garage location is the issue but this was touched on previously.

I would remove the stacker door facing west and replace with window. Probably have both the windows at say 1500 mm high x 2170 mm wide?? I'd be looking into these sizes further but just a starting suggestion. I would remove the door facing north (near garage) and replace with a window at say 1500 mm high x 1570 mm wide. If you can't do that use a glazed door instead of a solid.

East facing veranda is good. South lounge is good for TV - would need to close curtains to watch TV if it was to the north.

The changes shouldn't cost much ($2k for amending plans, submitting to certifier, etc is at the upper end but minor in comparison to construction costs, you may save money/cost neutral as you're swapping door for window, etc.)

Surprised you got away without double glazing the west facing windows.

It depends on various factors in addition to climate such as orientation, ventilation, insulation. I have experienced condensation in a warmer climate in winter but it was a very old uninsulated holiday shack many years ago. It's just that if double glazing would be useful for your southern windows there is less cost and inconvenience to install it during the build than have it redone later. On the other hand you can add magnetic secondary windows panes inside or roller shutters outside later if you want.

@MB Design & Drafting

We are looking to talk to our builder next week & see what can be done.

Thank you for your suggestions

simple roller blinds would improve the shading on the west and i would move the sliding doors around to the driveway side and consider swopping the kitchen and pantry to the west and laundry to the alfresco side

@dreamer

Sorry to bother you again. I forgot to ask you about the wall on boundary which you suggested yesterday.

We did planned to put up a colorbond fence. Are you suggesting the wall just for the western side? Thank you

Hi Cen T, colorbond fence would be fine, albeit not that attractive, as this essentially is your side facade, being on a corner block.
I assume you would do a colorbond fence the entire perimeter of your block. I was suggesting a more attractive fence/ wall for this west side due to being on the corner, and being part of the overall aesthetic of your property.

@dreamer

Noted.

We do like that wall fence 😊