The House of the Future? In our dreams..

I wasn't sure where to post this but as it's more house than garden-related, here goes! Prompted by a couple of other threads, I had a doodle this morning, to put down on paper what should be standard practice on the part of developers in the future. IMVHO!
We rebuilt our old cow barn from the ground up (including foundations, which are largely non-existant here), despite having no formal or practical training. We were lucky to have an English neighbour doing much the same thing who helped. Between us we managed to include many features and (then) current technology to try to create a passive energy house, subject to the tightish budget. It was an odd mix of French and UK Building Regs, cherry-picking the best of both and adapting to local conditions. So, no professional or technical expertise as to the practicality of the ideas! More economically viable for new-builds than converting existing buildings, though?
Feel free to add, edit, criticize, comment. This is a thread for us, the home-owners or tenants to have our say!

 

Looks lovely, noisette. I always remember when we used to visit the Portuguese countryside in the 1970s how impressed we were with their underground “cisterna” water catchment system in the old traditional houses.

 

Goodness, @Tidemark, that's not the blueprint for our house! It was just the result of some musings on what builders should be including in designs for the future, for our benefit and (to get all pompous for a moment ) to genuinely help to 'save the planet'. I realise that space and climate restrictions play a much bigger part in UK construction, e.g. we opted for geothermal heating because we had enough land and the climate is just about suitable. (If we were to do it now, we'd include a wood-pellet stove too, as back up). The principle of using the space under the house or garden seems even more important in a country where space is at a premium.
We buried 3 x 3000l plastic septic tanks under the terrace and lawn

This was the barn 'before'


and after...

 

That looks even better.

 

We are rural and our underground Cisterna holds 19,000 litres. We have a raised patio on top ..

 

That’s prettier than a row of plastic waterbutts anyday.

 

Our house is built on a hillside so it's built up at the front. What was the original 'coal hole' is under the terrace which is about 4 ft high and 5ft wide at the widest point. If we have to have the terrace re-built at some stage I'd love to have a big plastic tank installed inside to catch the rainwater off the roof. But, how do you deal with the sludge and overflow problems?

 

Ours are 18 years old now and I did have to take the plunge last summer when I accidentally dropped something in one of the tanks (the one under the lawn). I was surprised by how little sludge there was. Our gutters aren't overhung by trees admittedly and if they were, I'd probably fit a mesh guard over them or at least a mesh filter on the downpipe inlet. We fitted mesh over the tank inlet and as we have access to the lids for pumping purposes we're able to check that regularly. The overflow is from tank 1 to tank 2 and then tank 3 via buried 100mm pipework, then the final overflow is to the nearby pond which then overflows in winter to disperse on the rest of the slope.
It was all done on the cheap, as at the time, a 3000l tank cost €350 whereas a dedicated 'pro' system with filters and an integral pump cost around €5k.
There are even more sophisticated systems where the water is pumped into the house to flush loos and provide soft water for washing etc, but it gets complicated when you need it to be linked to the mains system in case of drought, so the mains can take over.

 

Thanks @noisette47 for that useful information. I think in our situation the overflow might be a problem in that we don't really have room for a pond in the front garden. I'm guessing though that any overflow could just gently seep out underground and possibly eventually find its way down to the drainage ditch under the front hedge. It's quite a steep slope.

How do you access the water when you want to water the garden in a dry spell - via a tap or do you have to pump it out? I don't think we wouldn't have access to any lids.
Sorry for all the queries but I'm finding this really interesting.

 

Our plot has more or less been defined from the start by the need to divert water away from the house. When it rains here, it doesn't mess about! I did make the mistake a couple of times of just leaving a land drain to 'seep out and disperse' further down the slope, but it just moved the problem around. If you possibly could, it would be better to dig a trench and bury an overflow pipe down to the ditch itself. Problem solved permanently!
Re. the tank, I should think you could use gravity feed rather than pumping water back up. Even the 1000l IBM type tanks can be fitted with a tap and hosepipe fitting and provide a trickle-type watering system. Obviously the flow is stronger the fuller the tank.
We buried an electric pump under the terrace next to two of the tanks and an outdoor socket. Just lift a loose slab to access it. The lid on the tank in the lawn lifts off and a cheapie Lidl submersible pump does the trick. In fact, again, I could and do occasionally use gravity and a syphon effect, given the slope.
Do a doodle or post a photo of your terrace and I'm sure others will come up with other solutions ETA: There is also the possibility of solar powered pumps nowadays. The advantage of that is that they work best in the summer, just when you need the water!

 

Many thanks @noisette47, food for thought.