Hey tomato dude--I sent you an email with a ton of information. Please let me know when you receive it. Hi Worthy! We have made some provisions for the future/environmentalism, not as many as I would have liked but the budget really kept us in check. We contemplated geothermal until the last possible moment. It would have been an extra 20K and we just couldn't come up with that extra money. Once we got through all the mortgage "crap", and I do mean "crap", it would have been scrapped anyway because with all the new guidelines, even with our 800+ credit, middle class income and 20% down, it came down to the appraisal of our "unbuilt" home, on our vacant lot from one appraiser. So we ended up having to come up with more money since our appraisal came in at less than it would cost to build. Quite a blow, but we figured it out, thankfully. So.....geothermal would have gone 'bye bye', even if we had found the money for it. I'm glad you brought up green attributes because I realized I never expounded on it in the design part of my website. I will be finishing that part asap!To start, I forgot to talk about our concrete floors! We will be having infloor radiant heat on the main level and the lower level. A very efficient and clean heat. It will also help with dust within the home. The boiler we are using will be 95% efficient and the air conditioner will be a 16 SEER rating. We are also going to have an air filtration and exchange system with a MERV of 16 at minimum, as well as an HRV unit. All appliances will be energy star rated as well as double pane low-e argon gas filled windows. Let's see what else...oh, our insulation will be icynene spray foam insulation and the roofing will be a flat, white roof with the EPDM fully adhered membrane. All the cabinetry will be low-VOC and since I am the painter extraordinaire (my profession), we will be using NO VOC paint from Benjamin Moore. As mentioned on my website, we are using ICF construction for the lower level--the concrete was poured on Friday!! We are going to be having rain barrels for each side of the home where there are downspouts and the electrician is going to put in wiring so that at some point in the future, solar panels could be a possibility. I SO WISH I could have been basically off the grid, but realistically, it couldn't happen. We are lucky to build and part of that luck is the economy right now. We got a great deal on a lot and some competitive pricing on our builder. Our home is basic, but perfect for the two of us and the back and all of the floor to ceiling windows do face south so we will be able to use that to our advantage as well as the other items I mentioned earlier.

The dining table and hot tub do not belong together. We need to add a conversation set and firepit. What goes where and with whom? I am seeing two separate outdoor rooms here. Dining table and conversation set go on the first deck set at the same level of your exterior doors. This deck covers both doors and the full right or left side of the house which ever side makes more sense. Stairs lead down to a second lower deck. The firepit, hot tub and late night conversations go together quite nicely on this second deck level. This deck then connects to the stairs and down to the boat house.

I’m late to the party but I have to say that I wouldn’t dig one bit of dirt until you have cleared the positioning with your neighbors....even if you are obeying your setbacks. you have to live with those neighbors. So much nicer to start on good terms. we built a lake house last year and have a lot of glass with lake views to the back and both sides. My neighbors do not block any of my views and I do not block theirs. It looks to me like your home may block some of your neighbors side views I’m afraid....in that position. eta..fixed autocorrect error, lol.

Above all, the lot needs to be sloped in such a way as to direct water away from the foundation. Your gutter downspouts need to be extended in order channel water away from the edge of the structure or buried drainage pipes need to be installed. The thinking about crawlspaces has changed in the last few years. It used to be that crawl spaces were ventilated. Now, crawlspaces are encapsulated as closed conditioned spaces. Often this is an additional item after you build a home involving a specialty contactor. If this were an entirely custom home, you would consult with your general contractor and get them to order it. My guess is this a production home. You need to discuss your options with the salesmen and construction supervisor and determine the plan for this space. It can involve HVAC elements. You definitely want pay attention to this. It's easy to forget until you have a problem with mold, mildew and air quality in the home. Better to take care of it before it becomes a problem.