Underground Housing: Difference between revisions

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{{Category=Housing and construction}}
 
[[File:Earthsheleteredhome.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Earth sheltered home in Big Sur, California]]
 
'''
<blockquote><center>''"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.<br>Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell,<br>nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat:<br>it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."''</center></blockquote>
<blockquote><center>''"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.<br>Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell,<br>nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat:<br>it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."''</center></blockquote>
'''


Please see the page for [[Malcolm_Wells|Malcolm Wells]] for one architect's underground houses.
[[File:Underground house for flat land.jpeg|thumb|right|500px|thumb|right|"Underground house for flat land"]]


''[[Media:The_$50_and_up_Underground_House_Book.pdf‎|The $50 and Up Underground Housing Book]]'' (link is to a 115 page pdf file) by Mike Oehler of http://www.undergroundhousing.com/.
==Advantages==


[[File:Earthsheleteredhome.jpg|right|388px]]Underground homes have several advantages over homes built above the ground:
Underground homes have several advantages over homes built above the ground:
* There is no need to lay a foundation, which saves a huge amount of labour and material
* There is no need to lay a foundation, which saves a huge amount of labour and material
* The walls are earth, so that saves a lot more building material
* The walls are earth, so that saves a lot more building material
* The thermal mass effect of the earth stabilizes the temperature. Earth cools and heats more slowly than the surrounding air. If you dig 2m (6 foot 8 inches) into the ground, the temperature is always - day and night, summer and winter - steady at that climate's average. A well-designed underground home should need no energy for heating or cooling.
* The thermal mass effect of the earth stabilizes the temperature. Earth cools and heats more slowly than the surrounding air. If you dig 2m (6 foot 6 inches) into the ground, the temperature is always - day and night, summer and winter - steady at that climate's average. A well-designed underground home should need no energy for heating or cooling
* They are easy to build.
* They are easy to build.
* They are unaffected by wind.
* They are unaffected by wind, hail and hurricanes
* Pipes are not exposed to atmospheric temperature and don't freeze
* They require little maintenance
* They require little maintenance
* They are soundproof
* They are soundproof and relatively fireproof
* It can be complemented with a greenhouse that takes advantage of the heat already there (e.g. greenhouse-facing kitchen)
Please see the page for [[Malcolm_Wells|Malcolm Wells]] for one architect's underground houses.


Because greenhouses must be kept warm, [[Earth Sheltered Greenhouse|underground greenhouses]] make a lot of sense.
[[File:How not to build an underground house.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|thumb|right|"How '''not''' to build an underground house!"]]


Pictures: [http://www.norishouse.com/PAHS/images/image008.jpg], [http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/HOME_STEIGER__OTHER_TRACTORS_ON_ROOF_OF_EARTH_SHELTERED_TECH_HOME.jpg], [http://www.swansonarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sustainable_green_architecture_eco_friendly-earth_sheltered_home_thumb.jpg Ziggurat-type]
==Underground Greenhouse==
Greenhouses in cold climates must retain moderate temperatures for year-round growing, therefore [[Earth Sheltered Greenhouse|underground greenhouses]] are useful for temperature stabilization (see: [[Walipini]]).


==Concept for improving on Mike Oehler's design==
==Mike Oehler's methods==
If you build a house into a hillside, the wall that faces uphill has to be strong enough to resist the soil, which, like a slow, strong wave, is rolling downhill under the force of gravity. Much of ''The $50 and Up Underground Housing Book'' is devoted to ways to combat the 'lateral thrust' of the hillside.
Information about Mike Oehler's methods was removed after OSE received a ''Cease and Desist'' letter from the author based on copyright. -MJ 2/17/15


It seems to me there is an easier way around this problem. Don't have a wall facing uphill at all. Instead, build that part of the house in a wedge-shape with the sharp end pointing uphill. Lateral thrust is going to happen no matter what, but if you don't present a broadside to it, it should slip around your house like waves around the prow of a boat. (Pictures to follow.)
==Linkfest==
* [http://www.earthshelter.com/ Performance Building Systems, Inc.]
* [http://www.underground-homes.com/ Underground Homes]
* [http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com SubsurfaceBuildings.com]
* [http://williamlishman.com/underground-architecture/ Bill Lishman's underground domes], also [http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/bill-lishmans-underground-dome-home.php featured on Treehugger]; built with [[ferrocement]] and then reburied.
* Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_living Underground Living]
* [http://www.culturalconservers.org/library/171-180-earth-sheltered-housing.pdf "Earth-Sheltered Housing"], Washington Energy Extension Service (1984)
* [http://www.undergroundhomesgazette.com/ Underground Homes Gazette] Articles and info about underground and earth sheltered housing.
* Treehugger: [http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/green-magic-homes-are-probably-neither.html "Here's the dirt on a prefabricated plastic earth sheltered home design you can buy off the shelf"]
* Pictures: [http://www.swansonarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sustainable_green_architecture_eco_friendly-earth_sheltered_home_thumb.jpg Ziggurat-type]


==Linkfest==
 
* http://www.earthshelter.com/
[[Category:Housing and construction]]

Latest revision as of 01:32, 6 August 2016

Earth sheltered home in Big Sur, California

"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.
Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell,
nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat:
it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

"Underground house for flat land"

Advantages

Underground homes have several advantages over homes built above the ground:

  • There is no need to lay a foundation, which saves a huge amount of labour and material
  • The walls are earth, so that saves a lot more building material
  • The thermal mass effect of the earth stabilizes the temperature. Earth cools and heats more slowly than the surrounding air. If you dig 2m (6 foot 6 inches) into the ground, the temperature is always - day and night, summer and winter - steady at that climate's average. A well-designed underground home should need no energy for heating or cooling
  • They are easy to build.
  • They are unaffected by wind, hail and hurricanes
  • Pipes are not exposed to atmospheric temperature and don't freeze
  • They require little maintenance
  • They are soundproof and relatively fireproof
  • It can be complemented with a greenhouse that takes advantage of the heat already there (e.g. greenhouse-facing kitchen)

Please see the page for Malcolm Wells for one architect's underground houses.

"How not to build an underground house!"

Underground Greenhouse

Greenhouses in cold climates must retain moderate temperatures for year-round growing, therefore underground greenhouses are useful for temperature stabilization (see: Walipini).

Mike Oehler's methods

Information about Mike Oehler's methods was removed after OSE received a Cease and Desist letter from the author based on copyright. -MJ 2/17/15

Linkfest

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