I'm considering building a UG house, I've read Mike's book and been doing a lot of looking at Glenn's place. There is one thing I'm not quite sure of. Mike stresses need for the sunken patio on the up hill side what I'm thinking about is - Won't that create a cold sink in the winter? I live in fairly cold area I also get a high snowfall, usually 6' to 8' on the ground. Is there a way around these? I understand way he stresses the patio but I also see problems with snow and cold air. Any ideas? ???
It can be a place for cold to settle but it also lets light in on the high side as well as is a place to drain away water before it becomes a problem inside.
You could do similar up the hill by making a cut to drain away uphill water. Then just make the uphill patio area big enough to let in light.
You could put a greenhouse over it as I have done also. Lots of ways to handle it.
Rather than the excavation you could pop the roof out of the ground there similar to the sunscoop - a few to maybe 4 feet - just the desired amount for windows -- Mike likes to see light from all 4 directions of the compass.
I've been considering an underground house as well. I'm in central Vermont and we get several feet of snow and many nights well below zero. My only south facing slope places me close to undesirable neighbors so that leaves me with minimal solar gain, even in the summer.
My plans have focused on using Mike's design coupled with Passive Annual Heat Storage and Annualized Geo-Solar methods. Using Mike's PSP building method cuts out the expense of concrete while the PAHS and AGS "thermal umbrellas" virtually eliminate the problems with water infiltration. By artificially raising the temperature of the thermal mass surrounding the house I might be able to reach a point where I need no external heat inputs.
Here are a couple of links.
http://www.earthshelters.com/Index.html
http://www.greenershelter.org/index.php?pg=1
EPDM is now the roof membrane recommended by Mike Oehler and others.
That's the way to do it in my opinion, PC - Study them up and use the points and methods you like.
Glenn,
Exactly. Things that work for you will never fly on my land, but there are aspects that will fit both of our needs. Also a good bit of creativity doesn't hurt either.
When I explain my plans to people I always get the humidity and condensation on the walls statements. Did you get that a lot? The thermal umbrella will artificially raise the temperature of the earth surrounding my house and condensation will not happen.