Has anyone had any experience with earth sheltered (concrete) homes, or earth bermed homes. My wife and I were interested in building a hobbit home. Primarily because we would like t o build something energy efficient, but also because we live in an area of the country that is becoming somewhat of a tornado alley. Any advice on literature or building techniques would be greatly appreciated. I am traditional home builder/ carpenter with some concrete and concrete basement experience. Thanks
There’s not a lot to know, just a lot to remember. – Crouch
Replies
you're in luck... couple people here
look for VaTom and his PAHS
Also try filling out your profile, your address isn't necessary but location would be helpful.
Doug
Here's a cool one, from Findhorn Scotland
bump
Peach full,
easy feelin'.
Not from personal experience, but from speaking with the builder of two earthships (as I like to call them) while walking through them.
You will need to take into account your site's surface topography, geology, and soil percolation rate. Plan your ground and surface water management strategy accordingly. Having two lines of defence uphill/upstream, incl. diversions, is a good way to go. Downhill drainage is important too.
Another thing is you will need to plan your air handling (HVAC) very carefully, as it is hard to get cross-ventilation in most earthships. Getting a good chimney draft needs planning too.
Plan for the above and you'll have a dry, healthy home. Your traditional skills will serve you well.
I think it would be a blast to build one. It just seems like a great idea.
Try the Advanced Search, located at the top of the folders/topics column on the left. Search for "PAHS". VaTom is our resident authority and has written extensively on the subject, from personal experience. He lives in a large earth sheltered home of his own design which he built himself as well.
Had a chance to purchase one several years ago...remembering how eerily quite and cool(in the middle of summer) it was. This house had three thick concrete walls nestled into a hillside. It was built like a bunker and I would have purchased but it was to far from work.I looked for water penetration and found none, a really clean and efficient home. stinky
Somebody call?
Deliamey, we live with a couple feet of overhead dirt. Ours is hardly a hobbit house, more like a warehouse. Click on my name, it'll take you to a link to a page on our place. Which is why you should fill in a little of your profile. You never know when what you're looking for is next door.
I used commercial construction material, reinforced concrete and steel barjoists. Twice, with a third started. Works very well, inexpensive. Certainly DIY-friendly, I'm not a GC, not much of a carp.
But there are lots of ways to go underground, including thinshell like Monolithic domes, and ferrocement. I want to try earth-forming with thinshell, recently learned where to get the engineering. Earth loads are substantial. Good chance there'll be an example of earth-forming near Sacramento this summer.
Wood underground doesn't appeal to me, but there's a post&beam (block infill) underground house near here. Minimal earth cover, lots of posts. Owners love it, but get nowhere near our heating/cooling performance.
PAHS (passive annual heat storage) is the plan I followed. Uses the earth mass to cool during summer, storing the heat for re-radiation the following winter.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Definately a good option ... energy and structurally.
The key is controlling water on the roof and making sure you control water. There are lots of materials to help you w/ this ... continuous rubber sheating and I think they probably still use a material called Enka Drain (sp?) ... for below grade walls.
Design your south side w/ an overhang and you may need little cooling in the summer (RH control aside).
Consider exposed HVAC ducts for the chique quasi industrial style. Done well, it can be nice! Or go for radiant hydronic slab to take the edge off cold floors.
Design it right and you may need no interior finish on the concrete! Acid etch the floors and you have a reasonably economical approach (considering that concrete is an expensive material to build with). No exterior finish or maintenance, either ... so maybe the cost is more of a toss up.
There are lots of books done in the 70's and 80s on design ideas ... some use the old fashioned passive solar approach (which in my opinion aesthetically weren't always nice). LOTS of options, though, still w/ earth sheltering ... I'm still itching to dig into such a project.
Thanks to you and everyone else who has responded. Lots of good advice. The more info the better. I'm looking at all the angles before I start this project
Thanks Scott
So have you started building yet?
Yes, I have .
Not as involved as VATOM , but have done more than a few solar earth bermed projects and assisted one homeowner on a "solar earth covered dwelling.
Not difficult to achieve basic aims, and if you have done much concrete you have it made.
You may want to look into Earth Ships, as another poster mentioned. The main structure of them are tires packed with dirt and concrete and they seem to make good use of an otherwise hard to dispose of waste product (old tires). Think about how long a buried tire lasts and you can see why it would be a good thing to use for building underground.
Check out the following web site. This is what you're looking for.
http://photos.itsa.info/thumbnails.php?album=14
These folks even call their house a Hobbit house.