Planning
General
My home design will be similar to the bungalows found at the Dusit Thani resort located in the Maldives. These houses are perched up on stilts above a turquoise lagoon that overlook the beautiful Indian ocean. The outside style will be similar to a natural straw hut. This includes a straw like outside compiled of: straw, sticks and twigs, vine, wood, etc. On the contrary the inside is an extremely luxurious tropical style interior. Outside finishes can consist of tightly packed straw and or wooden, cylindrical shafts that will act as: an aesthetic theme to give the house a tropical style, a material that provides protection against the sun, and a material that makes a beautiful reed like noise when wind blows through certain entry points. A lot of the interior flooring is made up of high tech wood/composite panels that can be heated up to 25 degrees Celsius. The walls of the interior is made up of cocobolo wood panels, these panels are brownish red and give a cozy vibe to the rooms. This home is a private vacation home with a square footage of around 2,300 square ft and ideally houses two adults and three children, maximum. With this house being a vacation home or possibly a private home, if the family is wealthy enough, a lot of factors come into play regarding the quality of life of the people who live here. Things like high speed internet is costly and food must be imported from mainland. A separate septic container and septic system has to be maintained to keep the environment clean and not harm any aquatic ecosystems. Some positives about this location are: the beautiful ocean and ocean view, luxurious style of living, privacy to the tenth power, low population of aquatic predators such as sharks, eels, big fish. This location also has a rare species of a bio luminescent crustacean that is often mistake for phytoplankton. These crustaceans trigger a biological compound that is visible at night time.
LEED
Certain LEED categories contribute in the construction and sustainability of this home.
1) Water efficiency is key in this home, a system is built in the home that circulates water through the home for cooling, this water is usually waste water from the sink, toilet, and shower. A pump, located in the plumbing, pushes all water through internal pipes in the home resulting in the pipes absorbing the heat inside the home. This water is then sent through the septic system and then stored in the specialized septic tank.
2) Energy efficiency also is present in this home. Four high power solar panels are located on the roof, due to natural disasters like floods, high speed winds, these panels are protected with a highly durable carbon fiber mesh that protects the panels from any harm. A wind farm is located 5 kilometers from the home, just past the horizon for someone that is 5 foot 7 inches tall. Both of these technologies will be able to generate 1000 kilowatt per hour, monthly.
3) Materials selection is also carefully analyzed for the construction for this home. All materials in this home have a low energy loss rate and don't need a lot of maintenance to sustain them. Padauk wood is very strong and can resist a lot of force that is applied on it, this helps in the case of strong winds. Padauk wood also has an extremely low decay rate and is resistant to pest attacks like termites and flies. Outer materials are economically friendly and causes no harm to aquatic creatures if some were to decompose and fall into the ocean. Materials contain certain fibers that can be digested by animals, around 45% of the fibers can be digested then the rest biodegrade into the ocean floor. Proteins are also found within the outer materials that benefit aquatic life as well.
1) Water efficiency is key in this home, a system is built in the home that circulates water through the home for cooling, this water is usually waste water from the sink, toilet, and shower. A pump, located in the plumbing, pushes all water through internal pipes in the home resulting in the pipes absorbing the heat inside the home. This water is then sent through the septic system and then stored in the specialized septic tank.
2) Energy efficiency also is present in this home. Four high power solar panels are located on the roof, due to natural disasters like floods, high speed winds, these panels are protected with a highly durable carbon fiber mesh that protects the panels from any harm. A wind farm is located 5 kilometers from the home, just past the horizon for someone that is 5 foot 7 inches tall. Both of these technologies will be able to generate 1000 kilowatt per hour, monthly.
3) Materials selection is also carefully analyzed for the construction for this home. All materials in this home have a low energy loss rate and don't need a lot of maintenance to sustain them. Padauk wood is very strong and can resist a lot of force that is applied on it, this helps in the case of strong winds. Padauk wood also has an extremely low decay rate and is resistant to pest attacks like termites and flies. Outer materials are economically friendly and causes no harm to aquatic creatures if some were to decompose and fall into the ocean. Materials contain certain fibers that can be digested by animals, around 45% of the fibers can be digested then the rest biodegrade into the ocean floor. Proteins are also found within the outer materials that benefit aquatic life as well.
Site
The environment is very wet considering the surrounding ocean and cooling for the home during hot summer days isn't a problem because I can make a cooling system that runs through the house and uses the cool ocean water to maintain a certain temperature withing the house. The house watches over the beautiful Indian Ocean and its turquoise waters. When you stand at the front entrance and look out into the ocean the sun rises in front the house and circles over to set behind the home, this is very important because with the positioning of this house the home gets an equal amount of sun around the house. The houses location provides a lot of free land that can be explored for recreational purposes, the water isn't too deep so walking around on foot isn't a challenge. The only method of transport to access the home is by boat or helicopter.
Budget
The approximate value of this house is around 47,840$ just for the wood panels and heated floor panels, glass flooring will cost around 16,000$ and the island that I am purchasing for the land rights for this home is between 100,000$ - 300,00$ to purchase for life. Electricity and plumbing will cost around 15,000 to fully install, plus solar panels will cost around 14,000 to purchase and install. The foundation stilts, house frame, tiling/paneling, roof, and additional small adjustments will cost around 240,000 including labor. Total cost is around 532,840$ this is significantly cheaper than a home of the same size in a big city suburb with cost going as high as 600,000$. This house also includes a whole island, the island itself has millions of possible uses. Worst case scenario, if you run out of funding for the home the Maldives have around a 25-35 degrees Celsius all year round climate so sleeping outside isn't too bad.