1. Custom Home Design Project
Save Energy
Save the world
This template can be used as a starter file to give updates for project milestones.
Sections
Right-click on a slide to add sections. Sections can help to organize your slides or facilitate collaboration between multiple authors.
Notes
Use the Notes section for delivery notes or to provide additional details for the audience. View these notes in Presentation View during your presentation.
Keep in mind the font size (important for accessibility, visibility, videotaping, and online production)
Coordinated colors
Pay particular attention to the graphs, charts, and text boxes.
Consider that attendees will print in black and white or grayscale. Run a test print to make sure your colors work when printed in pure black and white and grayscale.
Graphics, tables, and graphs
Keep it simple: If possible, use consistent, non-distracting styles and colors.
Label all graphs and tables.

2. Project Overview Build a scale model house
Describe the energy saving features
Wire your house with simple circuits and light bulbs
Convince a panel of judges that your house should be chosen for a residential community of custom energy efficient homes to be built in Citrus Heights
What is the project about?
Define the goal of this project
Is it similar to projects in the past or is it a new effort?
Define the scope of this project
Is it an independent project or is it related to other projects?
* Note that this slide is not necessary for weekly status meetings

3. What energy features should you build into your model?
Start with the list from your Green Energy Project (page 7)
Read the handout: Passive Solar Design
Watch the video:
You will describe these features in great detail in your house description (50 points)
* If any of these issues caused a schedule delay or need to be discussed further, include details in next slide.

4. What should my house look like? What should I build it out of?
Standard
Duplicate this slide as necessary if there is more than one issue.
This and related slides can be moved to the appendix or hidden if necessary.

5. Modern

6. Geodesic domes

7. Sod roofs

8. Straw Bale House

9. Adobe

10. Clay

11. Logs (or straws)

12. Bricks or Legos

13. Rocks

14. other

15. Foam board

17. A model kit

18. Minimum House requirements
3 bedrooms (8x10)(10x12)(12x14)
2 bathrooms- sink, toilet, shower/tub (6x6)
Living room (16x16)
Kitchen (7x8) all countertops/appliances 2’ deep
Garage (16x16) usually (20x20)
Dining room (10x12)
Closets (2x4)
Family room (optional)
Laundry facilities – washing machine/dry each 3x3 (maybe inside house or garage)
Any other rooms optional
Standard wall height 8 feet – some ceilings raised feet
Outside doors 7 or 8 feet tall, inside doors feet

19. Timeline Floorplan Day1 Walls and windows Day 2 Sun angle and roof
Build model
Day 4
Timeline
The following slides show several examples of timelines using SmartArt graphics.
Include a timeline for the project, clearly marking milestones, important dates, and highlight where the project is now.

20. Where do I start? Floor Plan directions:
Draw a draft plan on scratch paper. Put all the required rooms, plus any others that you would like in your house, in your drawing as boxes (for now). Label each room with its name and dimensions. Glue the draft into your notebook.
Choose one room to start with. Using ¼ inch graph paper, draw the room to scale (1 square= 1 foot). Add shaded exterior walls (shade with pencil; make outside walls 1 square thick).
Keep adding adjacent rooms in the same manner. (Do all your work in pencil, so you can erase later!) Tape another piece of graph paper onto the edge if you need more space.
Once all the rooms exist: Add windows (by erasing the shaded area and drawing a sheet of glass) and doors (by erasing shaded area and showing the swing of the door into the room. Interior doors are generally 2.5 feet wide, and exterior doors are generally 3 feet wide).
Add the scale (1 square= 1 foot= 12 inches)
Label North South East West

21. How do I make a second story?
Make stairs on the first story floor plan where you want them
Make a second floor plan that puts the stairs in the same position
Remember: the second story should NOT be larger than the first story (in most cases)
Label 1st floor and 2nd floor on the house plans

22. How do I draw a wall?
Hold a blank piece of graph paper up next to your floor plan
Draw a horizontal line where the wall would touch the floor
Count up the number of squares for the height of the wall (remember most walls are 8 feet high)
Add out side doors (7 feet tall and 3 feet wide)
Add windows
Label each wall east/west/north/south

23. Follow the directions in your handout for all calculations and the roof

24. and you can get every one of them!
Looking Ahead
Model House Design (100 points)
House Description (50 points)
Model House (50 points)
Presentation (50 points)
250 points
and you can get every one of them!
This is your final exam
Final exam date:

25. Digital Resources
Look at some example designs from blueprints or on websites such as to get a feel for dimensions of rooms in houses. For example, all doors should be standard 3-feet wide, etc.
Use graph paper to create a rough draft of your dream house. You can print your own graph paper by using the website:
Once your rough draft is completed, go to and create a login. It is FREE, but you do need a login to save your work.
While on use the outline features to create the outlines of your room including doors and windows. Make sure the dimensions of your rooms are dimensions that could actually be created (for example, do not accidentally create a 2-square-foot bathroom).
Use the features provided on to add furniture and appliances to each room.
Links to View Previously-Created Blueprints for Design Ideas:
This website allows you to select the number of bedrooms, floors, bathrooms, etc. and to view different floor plans for your needs.
This website also allows you to plug in requests, as well as dimensions of the house.
This website gives you general dimensions of different features that you might want to include in a room, such as countertops, to help you plan out the dimensions of each room.