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>
'''
[[File:Underground house for flat land.jpeg|thumb|right|500px|thumb|right|"Underground house for flat land"]]


Please see the page for [[Malcolm_Wells|Malcolm Wells]] for one architect's underground houses.
==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 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.
* 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]]).


==Mike Oehler's methods==
==Mike Oehler's methods==
Mike Oehler of http://www.undergroundhousing.com/ pioneered a particular style of underground architecture. It is distinguished by a exteremely low cost and a strong emphasis on DIY. For details, refer to ''[[Media:The_$50_and_up_Underground_House_Book.pdf‎|The $50 and Up Underground Housing Book]]'' (link is to a 115 page pdf file). Some key points -
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
 
*Always have water draining well away from the house.
*Have entrances on different sides to let light in and provide cross-ventilation. A basic challenge of underground architecture is getting enough light and air in.
*Use a [[dirt floor]]
 
===Post-shoring-polyethylene walls===
#First, excavate the hole.
#Insert wooden posts at intervals along the wall. The posts should be treated to prevent rot and insect attack. The foot of the post should be buried beneath the floor level and kept in a plastic bag.
#Behind the row of posts, stretch a layer of heavy-duty polyethylene sheeting.
#Insert horizontal shoring planks between the posts and the polyethylene.
#Fill in earth behind the polyethylene.
 
===Uphill patio===
The obvious way to build an underground house on a hillside is like this:
 
<gallery widths="300px">
File:How not to build an underground house.jpeg
</gallery>
 
The problem with this design is that earth from uphill presses against the back wall and buckles it in. Also, the water draining from the sloped roof is not drained away from the house, and will back up against the wall. Water backing up against a wall like this will inevitably find its way through a tiny tear in the polyethylene and leak into your house; you must always design so that water drains away from the house.
 
To solve these problems, Oehler proposes the uphill patio design:
 
<gallery widths="300px">
File:$50 house.jpeg
</gallery>
 
Here, water from the roof drains downhill, safely away from the house. The patio on the uphill side of the house means the earth pressing down from uphill meets a sloped wall, rather than a flat one, causing less pressure on the shoring. The uphill patio can be used to grow food.
 
The roof is made by laying girders supported by notches in the top of the posts, then laying planks across the girders, and finally piling two or three feet of earth on top of the planks. 
 
The picture above does not show it, but there is an entrance at one corner of the downhill-facing wall. This allows light and cross-ventilation in. This entrance is dug out of the hillside at the corner of the house. It is level with the floor so that so that you can walk in without going up or down stairs. Here is a picture of it:
 
<gallery widths="300px" heights="300px">
File:Corner door for underground house.jpeg
</gallery>
 
====Concept for improving on uphill patio====
The uphill-facing wall of the patio could be built in a wedge-shape, to allow to the earth bearing down on your house to slip around it like waves around the prow of a boat.
 
===Design for flat land===
If you are not building into a hillside, here is a design you can use:
 
<gallery widths="400px" heights="300px">
File:Underground_house_for_flat_land.jpeg
</gallery>
 
Here, the bowed roof allows water to drain away to the sides. Excavated patios on both sides allow plenty of light and ventilation.


==Linkfest==  
==Linkfest==  
Line 72: Line 34:
* [http://www.underground-homes.com/ Underground Homes]  
* [http://www.underground-homes.com/ Underground Homes]  
* [http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com SubsurfaceBuildings.com]  
* [http://www.subsurfacebuildings.com SubsurfaceBuildings.com]  
* [http://www.williamlishman.com/underground.htm 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.  
* [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]
* 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.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]
[[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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