Solar House Designs & Energy Efficient Home Designs From

Like all of Ms. Coleman's designs, Dakota was originally designed for a client who wanted an energy–efficient, passive solar home. You can build this house facing in whatever direction suits your needs, but if you're interested in building it as a passive solar home, please read the section below titled Passive Solar Info for specific information on orientation.

First Floor
The front entry porch could serve as a cool summer porch with all of the windows open on a hot day, and as an airlock entry for cold winter days. Directly off the foyer, just past the front closet, a pair of French doors lead to an away room that has access to a large deck in the rear of the house. There's also a doorway between it and the kitchen, so the away room could be turned into a formal dining room. The kitchen, living and dining areas are essentially one large open space with a vaulted ceiling. The kitchen features a large island with a curved breakfast bar. The great room also opens on to the rear deck, and the wood stove (or fireplace hearth) is located in the center of the home for equal distribution of heat. Brick archways separate the great room from the main hallway. The laundry/pantry is just across the hall from the kitchen, for easy access.

The master suite at the far end of the hallway has lots of windows, providing abundant natural light and views. "His" walk–in closet faces the bedroom, while "hers" (larger, of course) face the master bath. The bath area has room for both a whirlpool tub in the corner, and a double shower, and includes linen and storage closets, and a private toilet.

Second Floor
Upstairs you'll find a large bedroom with a full bath, a walk–in closet, and access to two storage areas. In fact, there are two additional storage areas in the eaves, and attic storage over the garage (is it even possible to have too much storage space?). On the opposite end of the upstairs is a space large enough to serve as a guestroom, or as a study.

Basement
The stairway leads down to a daylight basement that has either two bedrooms, or a bedroom and a study. There's also a large exercise or media room, a full bath next to a sauna, a mechanical room, and more storage. If your lot slopes front to back, you won't even feel like you're in a basement.

Garage Option
The large attached garage has room for 3 full–sized vehicles, or for 2 if you want a large workspace. The garage could easily be detached from the house.

Passive Solar Info
To maximize its passive solar design, this house should face north. The thermal mass is designed to be primarily in the walls, making floor construction simpler. However, if you eliminate the basement and build on a slab for thermal mass, then no interior brick walls will be needed for mass. The 35 pages of specifications that come with these plans (see Please Note below) will give your builder precise details on all the passive solar issues pertinent to the construction of this house.

Construction Info
The plans for this house call for 2x6 stud exterior walls. However, they can easily be changed to 2x4 stud walls by your builder, or to SIPs walls by a dealer in your area. If you plan to change the walls, we recommend that you purchase the plans in CAD format.

Foundation Info
This house was originally designed to have a basement foundation. However, if you prefer a crawlspace or a slab foundation, these are fairly simple and inexpensive changes that your builder can often make for you. If the basement design is not displayed in the Floor Plans, it's because it is unfinished.

Modification Ideas
Eliminate the second floor and build the entire roof with trusses. You can then eliminate the columns, which will make the great room feel larger.

Please Note
All of Ms. Coleman's plans include 35(!) 8.5"x11" pages of specifications to help your builder construct this house exactly as it was designed. These technical specifications are organized to follow the CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) format, and apply to the various aspects of the built home. They also include complete details on passive solar issues.