So a little more on these underground homes. Gideon Golany has researched different types of homes using earth-sheltered technology around the world. Many of his study areas have been focused in rural regions with little to no advanced technology available for constructing energy efficient homes. Some of these regions are also greatly lacking in construction materials, such as some arid regions in Tunisia, and some are just generally lacking in space due to over crowding, such as China. A list and preview of some of his books and papers can be found here.
Golany traveled to many of these areas to study the efficiency of maintaining temperatures for comfort and how they can save space in overcrowded regions. Many of these building techniques have been taken from ancient housing designs from each region. These can teach us a lot about how to use passive practices to maintain a comfortable environment inside our homes. This could reduce our impact on the environment.
Golany's studies in China tested the efficiency of two typed of homes. In the rural regions he tested, he found that completely underground dwellings radiating from a central courtyard were less efficient than dwellings located in the cliff face. This is because the air in the courtyard dwellings becomes stagnant. It heats up to uncomfortable temperatures in the summer and becomes cold because of a lack of sun penetrating the courtyard in the winter. This problem with stagnant air does not exist in the cliff side dwellings because air circulates much more readily past the front face of a dwelling.
This is important for more technologically advanced earth-sheltered homes as well. Ventilation is very important for these houses, because they are only exposed on one side. For the more natural houses it is an important factor in maintaining a comfortable temperature and preventing a stagnant feel inside the home. Various ventilation systems can maintain a comfortable atmosphere within advanced earth-sheltered dwellings and normal air conditioning systems may also be used to maintain the small comfort window down to an exact cue. These systems, as discussed earlier, may be much smaller, and therefore less expensive than those meant for conventional homes.
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I'm curious what modern ventilation systems would look like in an underground home? Would air circulated using a heating or cooling system suffice? Also, I'm curious about how such houses remain comfortable year round when the earth temperature is in the upper 50's. The cool earth temperature would be useful in the summer, but could potentially make things feel cold in the winter. Have you read anything about how this is handled?
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