Ah, while I was writing my post I couldn't see the plan. I thought there was access from the garage to the pantry/kitchen. But as you say, it's not the…

No worries. Haha, you were using the term like if normally use it! So the house faces a north backyard. Perfect!
However, you've still got very little "passive solar" going on.…

Yep, depends on quality.
But should average about $1 per watt. So a 5kW system would average slightly over $5,000. Not much more for the 6.6kW system, as it's a 5kW…

I was also going to write about energy use. As, even after upping insulation levels, you'll probably need to heat & cool your home more than a well orientated home…

Oh, one other thing I was going to mention about thermal efficiency was zoning your main living area. ie. closing doors to separate your living area from the rest of…

Hehehe. I'm not expert, but will do my best. But this is certainly a tough block to work with.
A block that is 45° off the compass points is tough, as…

You may cut down on your initial spend, bit you'll end up spending far, far more on your bills if you heat your water with LPG.
It would be my last…

"Facing" is a confusing term. In the past it meant the direction living areas faced (usually the backyard). Now it seems to be used interchangeably with "frontage".
So I'm assuming you…

The Your Home website recommends a minimum of R 4.1 for the ceiling, & R 2.8 in the walls.
https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/insulation
2.5 batts will fit in a standard (90mm)…

Whoops, asking where you're located, & it's in the title of your thread 😂
If you're planning on having a second living area, I'd probably recommend you locate it upstairs, at…

'Facing' is a confusing term nowadays. It used to mean where the living areas faced, so usually the backyard. So a north facing home actually had a southern frontage. Nowadays…

Personally, I'd aim for 'quality', not 'quantity'.
Unless things have changed recently, Australia builds the largest houses in the world, averaging around 240sqm for new builds.
We also have extremely poor building…

Deleted. Because the editing function on this website is broken 😕

I have to admit, I hate the term 'facing', when discussing the orientation of a home. In the past, this has meant which way the living areas have faced, usually…

Hi firstdream,
I have a few questions that really need to be answered, before anyone can really give you meaningful advice.
1. Where are you located?
Local climate should be a major consideration…

As for the wind roses, I think you liked at the annual wind rose, which would give you the average throughout the year.
I think it's more useful to look at…

Yeah, the Your Home website can be a hard slog, but it's worth it.
It's certainly very thorough, a lot of reading.
I'd start with "passive design" & "orientation". To get a…

As you'd like access from the laundry to the backyard (north), how about locating it in the NW corner. It will be close to the kitchen (so short plumbing runs),…

That's a good sized block Trixie, with a nice wide 18m frontage. What direction does the frontage face.
With a block that size you should be able to get the home…

Which direction does the glazing face?
What type of low-e coating exactly? To keep the heat from the sun out, or keep your winter heating in?
Low SHCG, to keep heat from…

So you already have a block?
What dimensions? Looking at your plan, is it an eastern frontage, southern frontage, corner block or a larger rural block?
As has been mentioned, the Your…

So what's in the external walls?
Don't expect builders to go beyond the (very poor) minimum standards.
The extremely informative "Your Home" government website, all about sustainable, energy efficient design, list the…

You could hire an infrared camera (guess that's what they are). Think you should be able to get a fair idea what's in there, when it's still much for outside…

It looks like you've got a pretty good roof for solar PV, I hope you're planning for it. Looks like you could have a decent amount of panels to the…

I applaud your efforts in making your home as energy efficient as possible, I truely do. You've obviously put far more thought into this than most people.
But also be aware…

Exactly my point. We build large detached homes, now I'm ever shrinking blocks. Much like this home. With useless 900mm setbacks down each side. We can't continue to do this…

Who knows what the OP wants. I only skimmed the comments in the tread, bit add far as I know we are supplied with no information about the location (or…

Eaves are quite ineffective to the west, as the sun is low in the sky in this direction. Some window treatments (like low-e) are somewhat effective, though external shading is…

Australians & their large house sizes, is it a feeling of inadequacy 😜 We build the largest houses on the planet. The larger the home, the larger the cost, to…

Sorry, a few typos there. Won't edit the post, as it screws with the formatting of the quote for some reason on this website. Hopefully you can make sense of…