Earth-bermed/sheltered house

[daggahead]

Can anybody point me to some good reference material for building or contracting earth-sheltered houses? Here in Michigan, I haven't had a lot of luck finding any.

Thanks!

[CC]

1. I doubt this is

exactly what you are looking for since it is only 1 house but it does have info on the building etc. and is a start. I love this house though and would love to have it or one like it.

http://www.ourcoolhouse.com/thehouse.htm

[txlibdem]

2. This might be helpful

Here is some great general info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_sheltering

This might be more specific, might point you in a good direction:

"Passive Annual Heat Storage Improves Earth Sheltered Homes
How can I build an earth sheltered home that saves summer heat for all-winter heating?

1. Use your home itself to collect free solar heat all summer.
2. Cool your home passively, while heating the earth around your home, without machinery or commercial energy.
3. Keep your home cozy all winter by retrieving heat from the soil.
4. Utilize the free solar heat stored throughout the summer as a year-round natural thermal resource.
5. Power a convection ventilation system using stored heat that provides warm air all winter and cool air all summer.

Passive Annual Heat Storage (PAHS) is a method of collecting heat in the summertime, by cooling the home naturally, storing it in the earth naturally, then returning that heat to the home in the winter. It includes extensive use of natural heat flow methods, and the arrangement of building materials to direct heat from wherever we get it to wherever we want it, all without using machinery to make it work. With the rising cost of energy, all home builders should get familiar with basic PAHS principles.

The goal of Passive Annual Heat Storage is to provide a method of placing building materials and organizing construction so that the comfortable environments produced are continuously pleasant. The resulting subterranean home interiors are balanced with the natural environment, and are able to extract all of their energy needs from their surroundings without using any commercial energy sources. Thus, there is no longer any need for using mechanical devices or causing any disruption in global ecosystems."

http://earthshelters.com/

[Tansy_Gold]

3. I built and lived in one in NE Indiana for 6 years.

PM me if you're interested in references, pix, etc.