Underground Housing: Difference between revisions
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<blockquote>''"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."''</blockquote> | <blockquote>''"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."''</blockquote> | ||
Earth | 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 stabilized 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. | |||
* They are easy to build. | |||
* They are unaffected by wind. | |||
* They require little maintenance | |||
* They are soundproof | |||
Because greenhouses must be kept warm, [[Earth Sheltered Greenhouse|underground greenhouses]] make a lot of sense. | |||
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] | 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] | ||
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''[[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/. | |||
==Concept for improving on Mike Oehler's design== | |||
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. | |||
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 into the soil. 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.) | |||
Revision as of 01:45, 9 March 2011
Template:Category=Housing and construction
"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 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 stabilized 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.
- They are easy to build.
- They are unaffected by wind.
- They require little maintenance
- They are soundproof
Because greenhouses must be kept warm, underground greenhouses make a lot of sense.
Pictures: [1], [2], Ziggurat-type
![[1]](http://www.norishouse.com/PAHS/images/image008.jpg){kind=link}
![[2]](http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/HOME_STEIGER__OTHER_TRACTORS_ON_ROOF_OF_EARTH_SHELTERED_TECH_HOME.jpg){kind=link}
The $50 and Up Underground Housing Book (link is to a 115 page pdf file) by Mike Oehler of http://www.undergroundhousing.com/.
Concept for improving on Mike Oehler's design
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.
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 into the soil. 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.)