Greetings. I recently discovered SketchUp and have been slowly learning my way around the interface & 'toolbox'. I'm and engineering student - started off thinking I wanted to study mechanical engineering, but am currently leaning toward renewable energy. I've used SolidWorks at school and played around with Blender, but neither feels as 'comfortable' as SketchUp.

I just picked up a copy of SketchUp for Dummies and am working my way through it with the help of the author's YouTube videos. So far, so good, but I've got a couple newbie questions.

First, which axis is north? Or more specifically, if I want to orient something like a solar panel so it gets the most sun, how should I align it in relation to the red & green axes?

Second, is there a website or book that has a collection of home design thumbrules for things like thickness of walls, size of doors, height of windows above floors, etc. that will help a beginner lay out something that looks more like a real house than something from a Dr. Seuss book?

Thanks in advance for help with these questions and the many more that will follow.

--Michael