Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable... |  | Author: Rob Roy
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $16.90
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Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 17221
Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0865715211
Dewey Decimal Number: 690.837
EAN: 9780865715219
ASIN: 0865715211
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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 home’s 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 one’s 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
The time-tested, easy-to-learn construction techniques described in Earth-Sheltered Houses will enable readers to embark upon their own building projects with confidence, backed up by a comprehensive resources section that lists all the latest products such as waterproofing membranes, types of rigid insulation, and drainage products that will protect the building against water damage and heat loss. Rob Roy is a former contractor with 27 years of experience and 12 previous books to his credit, including Cordwood Building and Timber Framing for the Rest of Us. An expert on underground building, he founded the Earthwood Building School in 1981 with his wife, Jaki, and is frequently a speaker at events throughout North America.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
 Inspires Confidence, Crystal Clear, Makes the Option Very Attractive February 23, 2007
Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States)
106 out of 106 found this review helpful
I went to some trouble to survey books centered on both underground or into rock dwellings, and also earth sheltered homes, and this book is the best I could find. It has proven to be everything I had hoped for.
This book deals with earth-sheltered homes, which are homes generally built on the ground, and then covered with natural dirt and growth on the roof only, or on the roof and the berms of earth piled against at least two of the sides after the fact of building.
This is a really excellent offering. 12 chapters, 4 appendices, and an annotated bibliography. A number of really nice color photographs on eight pages in the middle of the book, many black and white photos as well as really excellent understandable diagrams.
Take-aways include the need for extremely careful but not over the top load planning, radon as a factor to take seriously, and ANYONE CAN DO THIS.
The book covers waterproofing, insulation, and drainage, to include waste drainage where gravity rather than pumping is strongly recommended. It does not cover electrical and plumbing installation. It covers energy in relation to sunlight and windows and heat retention curtains, but does not include coverage of skylights (except as an energy loss factor), interior lights and other "plumbing.
The bottom line in the book is that a solid earth-sheltered house can be built for $10K to $20K inclusive of appliances, plumbing and so on, which makes it a lot cheaper and greatly more sustainable than a double-wide trailer home, and better in most respects than your average rambler.
With Peak Oil now upon on, the energy saving features of the earth-sheltered home are not to be taken lightly. The author document going without a need for heat from wood burning for almost an entire winter, and documents getting through any winter with 2-3 cords of wood. The home is cool in the summer without airconditioning, in part because of the natural respiration and evaporation of the earth roof with grass, moss, and wildflowers.
I want to end with praise for the publisher. Five or six times now I have bought boooks based on my interest in their content, only to find that New Society Publishers is the provider. They now rank with Wharton Publishing as one of my favored publishers, and I will be keeping an eye out for anything bearing their imprint.
The best available guide I've found yet March 10, 2008
Sean J. Gildea (Boston, Ma)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
An excellent reference for those who are interested in Earth Bermed and Earth Sheltered houses. His attention to detail in the excavation and foundation chapters is worth the price of the book alone. Especially when there is a lack of in depth internet resources available for those wishing to build their own earth sheltered house. Although this book deserves the 5 stars for fulfilling its basic promise, I wish he had devoted some time to discussing plumbing for a simple structure. But overall, he gives this reader 90% of the information necessary to start a small sized earth bermed house.
If you are looking to have an earth roof, you will need to purchase his other book "Timber Framing" where he goes into rich detail the structural engineering requirements of load and tension and compression. With these 2 books, you should be able to complete rough plans for a structural engineer to review and stamp with little or none modifications.
Also, for those searching for energy efficient stoves, I recommend aprovecho.org's institutional rocket stove or Ianto Evans Rocket Stove which are both 300% more efficient than traditional wood stoves.
On a conclusionary note. I priced out timber framing members for the roof section of a square 30'x30' roof and it came out to over $9000 in timber alone ( not including the tongue & groove planking). Compare that to a traditional 8/12 pitch roof somewhere in the $3000 price range for rafters, ridge, and plywood. Put a metal roof on that and you should be good for over 30 years atleast. Sure the earth roof is better for the ecosystem and eye but a regular roof allows placement of rainwater collection, solartubes and solar heaters/panels as well. For the cost conscious, I have come to the conclusion that a traditional roof that is superinsulated along with the earth berming techniques in this book will allow people to have their own energy efficient house for less than they think.
A must have for those interested in this type of construction. January 9, 2007
C. Morse
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Mr. Roy has experience. He's built a few of these earth shelters. And, rather than telling you only how to build them, he gives you reasons why and lessons he's learned from those experiences. With an emphasis on safety, Mr. Roy explains in laymen's terms the in's and out's of earth shelters. I found this an easy and informative read which conjurs up plans and dreams for a earth sheltered house of my own.
A thoroughly practical guide to building homes with earthen roofs July 8, 2006
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
41 out of 47 found this review helpful
Former contractor Rob Roy presents Earth-Sheltered Houses: How To Build An Affordable Underground Home, a thoroughly practical guide to building homes with earthen roofs, for a dwelling in greater harmony with the environment that leaves less of a footprint on the planet. Other benefits of an earth-sheltered home include low maintenance, as well as protection against fire, earthquake, and storm. Modern technology has made strides in solving difficulties that plagued earth-sheltered homes of the past. Earth-Sheltered Houses covers basic design principles; critical concepts to keep in mind when excavating, laying foundation, installing the floor, building external walls, framing timber, and more for earth-sheltered houses; interior considerations; and much more. Black-and-white illustrations and diagrams round out this absolute "must-have" for anyone considering building or owning a sturdy earth-sheltered home.
"Underground" Houses April 14, 2009
Andrew Coles (Los Angeles)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Really fascinating read, with great comments by the author. Rob Roy even details the mistakes he made building his own Earth Sheltered Houses. Loads of folks may discount this type of housing, thinking that they won't want to be buried before their time! However, the author shows how even excavating as little as thirty inches depth will typically provide enough soil for berming against the three non-south facing walls (assuming building in the Northern Hemisphere), and six inches to cover the roof. The perhaps less obvious benefits (other than saving up to 80% on energy bills) are the protection offered from extreme weather and even earthquake damage. Plus an Earth Sheltered House will be much quieter than a normal surface dwelling.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
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