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Define household goals and needs before you look at land

Write down what the estate must do for your household, so every piece of land can be scored against the same list. This brief also guides every other module's sizing.

How

1. List who will live there now and in 10 to 20 years, including ageing parents, children and visitors.
2. List the systems you want on site: house, workshop, solar array, water source and storage, sanitation, garden, orchard, animals, greenhouse, vehicle access.
3. Estimate rough footprints for each: house and outbuildings, solar array area, garden area, pasture, tank pads, and the space for a septic dispersal field and a reserve area if you plan one.
4. Set limits: total budget, maximum distance to work, school and medical care, and how much physical work you can do yourselves.
5. Rank non-negotiables (for example legal year-round water, all-weather access, low flood risk) separately from nice-to-haves (views, woodland, a stream).
6. Turn this into a one-page land scorecard with a weighted score for each criterion in site-2.

Sources

1. Solar Orientation: Solar Arrays and Panels. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Building America Solution Center (US DOE), accessed 2026-11
2. Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Manual, Chapter 5: Treatment System Selection. US Environmental Protection Agency (copy hosted by Iowa State University), accessed 2026-11

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