It's somewhat challenging to design with this system as the geometry can be restrictive. I've made this attempt to show how I think it might be done. For you to get a little perspective, I divulge a little information about myself first to hopefully illuminate where this comes from.

The natural acid stained aesthetic is simplicity and humility. A simple rectangle is not very exciting but is very efficient. Minimizing the amount of exterior wall area minimizes the amount of energy required for temperature regulation. Energy translates into money in one's pocket book. Keep it or give it to those whom don't need it.

The "Phi Ratio" which occurs in nature and works of art is a good rule of thumb for maximizing aesthetic appeal. It is basically 1.62 to one. So for example, if a building is twenty feet high, multiply 20 times 1.62 to get a building width of about 33 feet, then mulitply the width by 1.62 to get the building length of about 54 feet. For further interesting insights as to the Phi Ratio

The difficult task is then to extract a floorplan given those constraints.

I have never liked the clash of the diagonal lines of a regular sloping roof with the vertical and horizontal lines of walls. I liken it to being in the jaws of a thirty year gun at one's head to pay the mortgage. When I was in Asia, particulary Kathmandu, the rooftop garden patios the concrete buildings sported made an impact on me. To relax above the street's cacophony and exhaust laden air while taking in the city's panorama seems a very sophisticated simple luxury. We usually believe a sloping roof is necessary to provide a leak free interior, but some of the largest buildings have flat roofs. I've been victimized to despair by the porosity of my flat roofs. It just takes the right way and product to do it.

If one looks at the roof coatings available at any big box, they all say they're not to be used where standing or ponded water exists. That instantly rules out all flat roofs. However, through persistent investigating, I found a product that works well and economically priced. Rooftop patios are now realistic.

Because a stairway going to a roof must be enclosed, that adds another story, although a small one. It might as well be large enough to store patio accessories and even contain bathroom facilities. The doorway from the room onto the rooftop provides a large opening for ventilating the entire house. The rising warm air exiting will pull fresh air throughout the lower house. By having screen doors on the bottom floor, the need for more expensive and view cluttering operable windows is eliminated.

The drawback to designing with the CWBS is the tediousness of it. Every wall and every panel must be preplanned. To use the minimum number of components often there's only one way to do it. It takes some practise and experience to get the hang of it. The panel arrangement is a grid that all electrical boxes to be cast into the panel, sleeves for plumbing routing, planning for phone lines and perhaps speaker wiring must all be specified and organized. Once one has a plan that works, ideally it will used over and over.

Water Trenching
Design
Dirt Screening
Plumbing Pipes and Drains Under Footing
Footings
Propane Piping
Solar Hot Water Piping
Remote Windmill
Foundation Walls
Air Ducting
Pond Liners
First Floor Slab
First Floor Reinforcement
First Floor Walls
Windows/Doors
First Floor Electric
First Floor Plumbing
First Floor Columns
First Floor Beams
First Floor Ceiling Slab/Second Floor Floor Slab
Second Floor Walls
Second Floor Electric
Second Floor Plumbing
Second Floor Windows/Doors
Plug Fans
Second Floor Columns
Second Floor Beams
Second Floor Ceiling Slab
Railings
Solar Hot Water
Third Floor Walls
Glass Blocks
Third Floor Columns
Third Floor Beams
Third Floor Ceiling Slab
Photovoltaics
Third Floor Ceiling Solar Hot Water
Grouting
Staining
Appliances
Kitchen
Bathrooms