The thing about tracking hardware is that it is so expensive that for the say, 15% or so reduction you get due to sun angle you can buy enough extra panels to offset the loss, assuming you have the space. CA new title 24 states that on a new building you must provide an unobstructed roof area of 250 sq ft(no vents, chimneys, or roof penetrations). Those panels must be at least 3'below the peak to provide access for the fire dept. It pains me to say it but solar thermal is about dead in the current American market. I was in the solar and alternative energy business in CA back in the late 70's-early 80's and did hundreds of hot water and other types of solar systems. They work great, but a dhw system today is around $10,000. That money is much better spent on a PV system today. Much better return on that investment. Ground mount systems are fairly common up here in the foothills. My house is shaded by a Sequoia and a few 4' dia Black Walnuts. My only PV option will be ground mount out in the side yard or a new garage roof, I suppose, but then again I spent the garage on the house re-model;). I've seen several up here where they put the array up on a 15' or so tall post. There are, finally, initiatives underway now to establish better specification guidelines for DC power. Snidely, I think you and I would get along great in person, but boy, we sure don't agree on much here. That is in no way a critical statement, quiet the opposite in fact. I'm a fitter/welder in an early life and worked on gas lines from 1/4"-36". I am very comfortable with it, but I understand the process of pipe design and installation. I do think that as we have codes that require smoke detectors that every home should also have CO detectors and, if supplied with gas, have a combustible gas detector. I am surprised that the insurance industry hasn't pulled that off yet. I guess not enough houses/people have been lost that way. Anyway, looking forward to meeting you on the next post;)

"...The kitchen is 14'+ x 16' wide..." The first layout you posted says the Kitchen is 25'6" x 16'. In which direction is the 14' you're referencing? The 16'? The answer will determine what you can/cannot fit for an island depth. . If your cabinets are inset, then your counter overhang can be 1". However, if you have framed overlay (partial or full), most likely the counter overhangs will be at least 1.5" sometimed more. So, factor that into your measurements. . "...No wall ovens as we have found a 36" double oven..." Do you mean a 36" double-oven range? So that's not really a cooktop, correct? . Regarding deadening out the corner...keep in mind that you will need to have at least 3" of filler on each side of the corner - that's filler, not cabinets or filler pullouts. That filler is needed to allow the cabinets on each side of the corner to clear the doors and knobs/pulls/handles on the cabinets on the other side of the corner + a small bit of wiggle room for things that are not always perfect. So, count on the 27" measurement for your corner, not the 24" measurement (it says ' 24" to 27" ' in your drawing.) . As MamaGoose pointed out, the DW and trash pullout should be switched to allow someone to be loading/unloading the DW while someone else is prepping or cooking. The key components of a successful Prep Zone are: Include a water source/sink (not pot filler, actual sink) Include at least 36" of workspace, with 42" or more much, much better. Where you have the sink, you don't have anywhere near enough workspace. You have only around 28". Since the island isn't oriented to be a Prep Zone (see below), I assume you plan to prep on the perimeter counter b/w the cleanup sink and cooktop...if that's not what you want, then you may want to rethink your layout. Even with MamaGoose's move of the prep sink & Prep Zone, the island is verging on being a "barrier island" b/w them and the cooktop/range. Ideally, if you want your primary Prep Zone on the island, then the long side should be facing the range. If you do want the island as your primary Prep Zone, then consider switching the sink and range. Prep sink vs bar sink...bar sinks are tiny and shallow, they do not work as prep sinks. Bar sinks are designed primarily for filling a glass with water and dumping glasses - not for attempting to clean veggies/fruit, empty boiling pasta water, etc. If that side door is going to be the family's main entrance (as opposed to the front door), then you might want to switch them for that reason as well - you want to protect the Cooking Zone and even the Prep Zone from through-traffic. I would not want to be prepping where people are coming & going from the outside, the Powder Room, and the Laundry Room. . Speaking of the Laundry Room - do you really want your dirty (or even clean) laundry on display for your guests when they use the Powder Room? Even close friends/family who use the family entrance will get an eye-full of laundry when coming in the side entry. Maybe it's just me, but I would also rethink the Laundry Room location. It looks like your main bedrooms are elsewhere - upstairs? Consider relocating the Laundry Room to the same floor as the family's bedrooms - it will be much closer to where dirty clothes come from and to where clean clothes go. . Refrigerator cabinet...is that a cabinet above the refrigerator & freezer? If so, I recommend you get a full-depth (24"D) cabinet and "build in" the refrigerator/freezer to make them look built-in. (Install them b/w finished end panels that are as deep as the refrigerator/freezer carcasses/boxes and mount the cabinet over the refrigerator/freezer b/w the end panels. The cabinet should also be flush with the carcasses/boxes.)

We are trying to work out our switch locations for our kitchen. There are very few walls available and it is a very large space with 4 main circuits. We will have one four gang switch on one entry to the kitchen from the DR/great room to control all 4 main circuits. On the opposite side of the kitchen (around 18 feet away from the first 4 gang switch) we would like another 4 gang to control the same circuits, but we really don't have a great spot for another 4 gang on this side. We would love to use a scene control here instead as we can accommodate a single gang. So, if the first 4 gang has the same four circuits as the ones we want to control with the scene control, and all switches in the first four gang are Lutron ones, and we have a main repeater (with plug and Cat 5/6) are we good to use a scene control on this end of the kitchen? Also, do we just put an empty plastic one gang inside the framed walls (rough in electrical stage) and tell the electricians to leave it alone? Or I guess we could have a hybrid switch that turns on the island light cicuit and and also has scenes to control the rest of the kitchen circuits. Carol

I think I wasn't clear or didn't emphasize the issue as well as I could have. Jeffrey R got close. I'm not concerned about exact costs projected into the future. I'm interested in the general factors that raise the cost of the house. Jeffrey mentioned the issue with electricians and 10-ft ceilings. I would not have thought of that. I don't have a preference for 8, 9, or 10 ft ceilings. Estimating $2/psf per foot of height is helpful. Knowing that in advance I would plan now for 9-ft ceilings (if that helps the electrician) instead of 10-ft. What does wall height do as far as sheetrock? It comes in many sizes, so are the installers faster with a certain ceiling height? Now that I'm thinking about this, the issue comes in when you start using non-standard sizes of materials. The installer has to cut and trim more, or in the case of electricians, moving ladders around. Windows come in stock sizes or custom. A plain box with a flat roof would be the least expensive, but I would want a little more architectural interest than that. The house will be in the Austin area. In Texas an ostentatious elevation view with arched windows, glass entryways, oversized sconces, columns, stone window sills, dentil work, etc., raises your taxes while the simple box appearance drops them to the minimum (times square footage). We have owned many houses between us and have come to know what we like. We only need 2 bedrooms but 3 is more normal for resale. We already know there would be one full bathroom per bedroom. Pathways to the house need to be at least 5-6 feet wide. Any patios or porches need to extend at least 8 feet out from the house. Installed concrete is more expensive than installed wood flooring. I was hoping there would be a calculator somewhere that could give general or relative cost differences for various changes in a design.