"Finally, you appear to have overlooked that it is oftentimes the builders who are the ones who make things happen, often in spite of the plans."
I designed this house which is nearing completion. https://michaelrichard.smugmug.com/Rockport-House/
The plans were approved by the local planning board. It's a Netzero passive design with 12 inch walls. I bought Chief so I could do the design. The point made above that the builder will have a lot to do with how things turnout can't be over looked. There are things that come up that can be done in multiple ways and since I have no history in the trades I depended on my contractor to make the right decisions. He has been in business for more than 20 years and what I have learned about the construction trade during this process has been astounding. These men are craftsmen. There were not any major deviations from what I designed, except we went from trusses to rafters which required moving some walls. I didn't do any framing and none was needed as the contractor made those decisions. I think that designing a building and building a building are two completely different skills. If you come up with a good basic design in Chief and work with a good builder then a lot is possible.