Design II - Tools

This is the second post in a series of Design related topics.

As mentioned in my first post, I decided to do the design for the home myself.  This entails producing construction drawings, a floor plan, a septic plan and a site plan.  Within the construction drawings umbrella, there are many individual drawings.  For example, elevations or assembly details.

Once the decision was made that I would be doing this myself, the next step was to gather the necessary tools.

Some folks like to get out the pencil and paper.  For me, however, the computer seemed like a logical choice.  So far, three basic tools make up my design kit.


Google SketchUp Make

SketchUp Make is the free version of Google's popular SketchUp .  Do not let that fool you, however, as it is still a powerful tool.  At $0, it was a perfect fit for our budget.

In short, it allows you to draw most anything in 3D.  From your drawing you can then pull measurements such as dimensions, area, volume and so on.  Here is an example of an early drawing, for a scaled down, Arctic Wall inspired assembly.

Using SketchUp Make to produce scaled 3D drawings.

The next tool might surprise you.  It has been around for a long time, and most computers already have it installed.



Microsoft Excel

If you are going to design your own home, you will have lots of data.  You will need to organize it, probably into lists.  Excel's table format is perfect for this, from budgets to material lists.

Rows, columns and math.

The other use for Excel is to assist with modelling.  Energy modelling mostly, but also layout.

I have built and continue to tweak a spreadsheet that requires a few basic inputs, such as the home's length, width, height, etc.  From that, area and volume calculations are done. Inputs for the wall assembly, such as thickness, framing fraction and R value can quickly show how much insulation is needed, or the assembly's U factor.

Finally, link the outputs from the layout modelling to do heat loss, ventilation and solar gain calculations and you end up with a fast way to get a sense of how a particular layout might perform.  

The basic premise is to have as many derived calculations as possible, from key inputs.  This has two advantages.  First, by building it yourself, you gain a more thorough understanding of the underlying formula, and their implications.  Second, once you have a working spreadsheet, the work is done - now you can use it for quick comparisons between different dimensions or assembly stackups.

Astute readers may note that this sounds like a watered down, half baked, DIY version of the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP).  Extremely watered down.  Which it is.

The last tool is nothing extraordinary, but again it was something I already owned and it does the trick.



Microsoft OneNote

One of the lesser known programs that is part of the Microsoft Office suite, OneNote is basically a digital scrapbook.  It allows you to easily copy/paste anything you find on the internet, and organize it like a file folder.

OneNote is basically a digital scrapbook, or file folder.

I have used it to create a folder for all the various topics that make up a home, from  Air sealing to Ventilation.  Often, I will come across an article, link or image that is of interest.  A quick copy/paste puts the link, or if you like, the actual article/image into OneNote.  So when you see that big long article on ventilation design that you know is worthwhile, but do not have time to read, file it.

In a furture post, I will discuss some of the design related technical aspects of super insulation, air tightness and mechanical ventilation.