Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Underground Home

Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable Underground Home
New Society Publishers | Rob Roy | 2006 | HQ PDF+OCR | ISBN: 0865715211 | 256 pages | 111 Mb

An earth-sheltered, earth-roofed home has the least impact upon the land of all housing styles, leaving almost zero footprint on the planet.

Earth-Sheltered Houses is a practical guide for those who want to build their own underground home at moderate cost. It describes the benefits of sheltering a home with earth, including the added comfort and energy efficiency from the moderating influence of the earth on the homeΓÇÖs temperature (keeping it warm in the winter and cool in the summer), along with the benefits of low maintenance and the protection against fire, sound, earthquake, and storm afforded by the earth. Extra benefits from adding an earth or other living roof option include greater longevity of the roof substrate, fine aesthetics, and environmental harmony.

The book covers all of the various construction techniques involved, including details on planning, excavation, footings, floor, walls, framing, roofing, waterproofing, insulation, and drainage. Specific methods appropriate for the inexperienced owner/builder are a particular focus and include:

Pouring oneΓÇÖs own footings and/or floor
The use of dry-stacked (surface-bonded) concrete block walls
Post-and-beam framing
Plank-and-beam roofing
Drainage methods and self-adhesive waterproofing membranes