Earth sheltered buildings

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Omg omg I want one!! Hobbit hole!! !
*ahem* Sorry. I was accidentally channeling a 13 year old valley girl.

Seriously, though, very cool.

I don't think cool quite describes it. Take a look at this site: http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthship.htm

Very innovative.

There was a note about the greenhouse windows being in a slant and being too hot in the summer. The greenhouse on this house is supposed to have shutters that pull over the glass when you don't want it to collect solar heat. But, most greenhouses I have seen for solar houses are vertical---so maybe the sloped windows aren't a good idea? But, to place the windows on this house straight up would lose some of the obsession I have for this house because I love the triangular look.

I emailed the architect once, and he told me the house was located in the Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. But, that was as specific as he would go. I guess there are privacy issues about it. But I have gone to google earth and looked down some of the residential streets trying to find it---like trying to find a needle in a haystack. In the Better Homes and Gardens articles on it back in the 1980s, they showed photographs of the house. It always held a fascination for me.

Since I love architecture, I have always loved house plans. There are three other houses I obsessed over and finally got the blueprints for them. But none of those are earth bermed or solar.

As to where I would build this house? I would build it in southern Ohio. My wife's parents were going to give us the land to build this house. It had the perfect location with a little terraced hill behind it which would provide the perfect berming. But, we built on to our current house instead. That was in 1994. But who knows, someday I may get to live in this dreamhome.

I have wanted a hobbit hole since seeing FotR.

I have seen an actual earth-sheltered house, though. It was in AZ though so it wasn't nearly as pretty and green as the hobbit holes, it was all deserty. It had a mound of earth covering oohh about 3 sides of the building and it had an exposed front and a turret coming up out of the hill at the top. It was pretty cool

Yes, summer sun would make your house very hot. The vertical windows work because the winter sun comes in at such a low angle that the solarium (the term for this passive solar heating system that your blueprint implements) still serves its purpose.

If you could have some way to block off the slanted windows during the warmer weather, that would solve the problem. However, things like that will fail over time and they're difficult to service (hope you like setting up and climing, ladders in high heat and reaching out with tools as the sun blinds you). That also takes away the asthetic of windows to look through during the warmer months.

Vertical windows should have shades too, so that you can close them every night to prevent heat loss - these are less prone to failure though.

I think when I look back at it, the decision to build on to our existing house may have been due in part to my fear that this solar house wouldn't work right. I love the design of it, but I was never quite sure it would perform as Better Homes and Gardens said it would. The blinds system on those windows are ones that pull down on tracks I'm guessing. I can see where they could be a major pain. There are two vertical window beside the greenhouse to allow light in the living room and den.

I have noticed something else about this house. It has only one entrance. I would think any house would have to have at least two ways out. Anyone know anything about safety codes for something like this?

I have designed and built several. The waterproofing materrials technology has finally come of age. Anyhing built before around 2002 probably leaks pretty badly or eventually will.

I've liked the rammed earth structures that I've seen thus far; I think there is a lot of potential there for effective method, quality of construction and insulation, and less destruction material usage.


M.

Awesome! Would you be willing to describe some of the designs/methods/materials you have used?


glider, you could probably find codes on your city's website (if it has one). The thing to remember with earth bermed houses and other like structures is that they often do not follow the codes.

Flismflop brings up an excellent point about angled windows, but in the end the deciding factor is location (latitude, orientation, exposure...)

That's a good point. Someone living at or near the Arctic Circle would probably never feel hot. Here again though, all solarium windows should have shades which can be closed when there's no sun, to lessen the amount of heat loss that happens through the glass. Shades on slanted tracks are at the mercy of gravity pulling them in a different plane of motion than they were designed for, which is the root of their problem.

Eliminating the slanted windows doesn't throw away the core idea - just go with only vertical windows for your solarium and the problem is solved; you'd still get the benefit of low-angled sun coming through the huge windows, heating up the storage material so that the house stays warmer longer into the the night, which reduces the amount time that your furnace needs to run.

Today in class, the discussion was focused on fire risk and planning...which, brought up the thought of fire risk for earth sheltered houses. And once I started that thought it went all over the place and by the end of class I was obsessing over how earth sheltered houses compare with conventional houses with regards to fire vulnerability and mitigation planning. Unfortunately, when I asked - the professor said he was not aware of any studies concerning these topics. Does anyone know of any? It's all I can think about right now...which is why I am not sleeping. Ahh good luck me trying to sleep tonight, everyone else may be sleeping. I guess I should pass the time revising my project before I submit it. Lol. Surprise, surprise, my project is a model for evaluating the potential for subterranean versus conventional development in areas of residential designation.

I want one badly!! !

Several issues.
Studies show that angled windows are no more effective that vertical glazed wall surfaces.
There is a significant difference between earth bermed houses and true earth sheltered houses
All forms of alternative construction, including adobe and rammed earth is more expensive than conventional construction.
Solar houses are still not cost effective alternatives

The solarium at my house works fairly well. I'm totally sold on the concept. A perfectied design will be implemented, if I ever get to build my own house.

I believe that those solar shingles take about 9 years to recoup their cost in energy savings. When one subtracts the cost of regular asphalt shingles, it would be an even better deal.

This thread is intriguing, i have always wanted to live in a proverbial hole in the ground.

there is a place in australia (NSW) called "white cliffs" where most of the residents live underground. their homes are dug beneath the plains because of the heat of summer and the cold of winter (and because most of them are disused opal mine shafts).
they remain at a constant temperature all year around. they require no heating or cooling, and they are supremely quiet inside.

i tried to find some references to these dwellings to post, but i just found cheap travel brochures. i tried to find some youtube videos of white cliffs, but they are mainly not very good.
so i found one of a "dug out" in coober pedy (in australia too). a dug out is usually cut into a hill i think, because the front of his house is exposed horizontaly to the outside, whereas the homes in white cliffs are entered by stairways to the underground chambers.

i have seen shows on TV about some underground homes in western NSW, and they were opulently decorated.
anyway this place is somewhat nice, and shows one example of a dug out.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6D2Hpvu_lw&feature=related[/youtube]