Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable...

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• Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks
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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.

The method described for creating a very strong concrete block wall were especially useful. At the same time he keeps it interesting and the reader engaged. The writing is excellent. Anybody considering going this route should take advantage of the author's school of hard knocks expertise. I bought this book to learn about low cost, state of the art, earth-bermed technology.

The technical details are all there to duplicate what he's done. The book delivers on this promise. The sod roof is something I'll have to think about for a while as you give up a lot by going this route in terms of the open airy feel that can be achieved with post and beam construction techniques. Good stuff. Still, what he says (structurally) has merit, though from an environmental point of view it strikes me as a bit "out there".

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. 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. 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. 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). An excellent reference for those who are interested in Earth Bermed and Earth Sheltered houses.

Especially when there is a lack of in depth internet resources available for those wishing to build their own earth sheltered house. But overall, he gives this reader 90% of the information necessary to start a small sized earth bermed house. Compare that to a traditional 8/12 pitch roof somewhere in the $3000 price range for rafters, ridge, and plywood. On a conclusionary note. His attention to detail in the excavation and foundation chapters is worth the price of the book alone. 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.

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. 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.

This is where I started when I began exploring of building my house underground. Check him out too and decide for yourself. What bothers me is so much cement. I like Mike Oehler better.

This is the so called "holy book" for building an earth sheltered home. Have a five year plan. Definitely should have started 20 years ago but it is needed for today's building needs. Energy efficient - low cost ( pretty labor intensive ) Awesome to build.

I thought the book was a very informative and practical account as well as very well produced and edited.Thanks.