Our Eco House Plans Outline

So here's a basic outline of our plans:

We, Mum - Sarah, Dad - Paul, three children 13yrs, 11yrs, 7yrs and Pumpkin the dog are joining resources with Sarah's Mum for an eco self build which will create a family home for all of us.
We have been researching eco building and self build for several years now - using the internet, reading books, going to show, going on courses etc.
We sold our house in West Yorkshire in Winter 2009, then move into a rented house in Devon early 2010. Once Sarah's Mum sells her house and moves in with us we'll start looking for land, which we hope to have by Autumn/Winter 2010.
Once we have land, we'll probably work with Amazonnails (for the drawing up of plans etc.) as we are going to use straw bales for the main walls.
Then it's onto planning permission, building regulations and hopefully beginning building in 2011.

Our House/Build

We are planning to build a straw bale house because of their "greenness" - the wonderful insulation and sound proofing properties of straw and we love the thick walls (we currently live in an old stone house).
The green technologies we plan to include initially are: passive solar heating and passive cooling, a ground source heat pump supplying under floor heating, solar hot water, brilliant U-value FSC timber windows, and rain and grey water recycling.
Throughout the property we plan to use "green" options - like lime-crete rather than cement, lime (external) and clay (internal) plasters, FSC timber, natural insulation (sheep's wool / cellulose) etc.
On the ground floor of our house we are planning an apartment for Grandma with a living/kitchen area, a bathroom and a bedroom, along with an open plan living/dinning/kitchen area and a separate library/relaxation/sitting room for us. On the first floor we are planning four bedrooms one of which will be en suite (our room) and a generous landing for our children to relax and play together. Then if the budget and straw bale building technique we choose allows, on the 2nd floor their will be a further sitting area/guest room and a family/hobby room.
We also want a large garden (we currently have a very small garden/planting areas) to provide space for: the children and Pumpkin to play, trees - we'd love our own woodland, to grow our own organic fruit and vegetables, to live outside much more and because I (Sarah) love designing gardens......
And whilst Paul continues working full-time, I (Sarah) plan to project manage our self build, whilst continuing to home educating our children (two of which have learning disabilities).