Why your home's orientation matters 🌞 🌎

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We recently covered red flags when hiring contractors, according to a GC. This week, we'll look at how your home's orientation impacts efficiency.

Why Your Home's Orientation Matters

The most affordable tool we have in building an efficient and sustainable home is using the natural forces of nature to our advantage. These are factors like sunlight, wind, and rain. They're practically free, and with a bit of planning can be used in powerful ways. For example:

Using the sun to heat the interior of your home in the winter.
Using the wind to flush hot air out of your home in summer.
Using rain water for your plants and veggies in your garden.

Orientation is the position of your home in relation to the path of the sun and prevailing winds. To use sun and wind to your advantage, your home's orientation should be a part of planning.

This is not a new idea. A Roman architect named Vitruvius (born 80 BC) was one of the first to describe the value of orientation in building a home. Michael Pollan, in his book A Place of My Own, put it this way:

Vitruvius spelled out principles of orientation that have not been improved on (which is not to say they have always been heeded): Buildings should be laid out on an east-west axis, with their principle exposure to the south. This means that in the Northern Hemisphere the low angle of the sun in winter will keep the building warm, while during the summer, when the sun passes overhead, direct sunlight will enter only in the morning and evening, when it will be welcome.

This original diagram from our Custom Home Planning Navigator Course captures the idea:

With some planning for orientation and exposure, homes can use less heat in the winter and less cooling in the summer.

Another Form of Orientation

Build Livable contributor Jake McKee described planning for orienting his custom home to decrease noise and increase privacy:

One side of the property had an auto dealership and their service bays backed up to our property line. Before any construction started, I could hear the car dealership on their intercom. Once the survey was complete, I worked with the architect to orient the house so we could block that noise and decrease the visibility for our pool area.

Jake outlines an important phase of every custom home project: orienting the home to optimize its location and environment. It's an opportunity to make informed and affordable decisions on paper that can make your home more efficient and livable.

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That's what I have for now. See you next week!

Lee LeFever, Build Livable

Build Livable helps homeowners navigate custom home construction. Learn More.
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Why your home's orientation matters 🌞 🌎

Why Your Home's Orientation Matters

Another Form of Orientation

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