Something of a hiatus but we're still around.

YES.

That isn't us, it's these folks, but we're still around, and still looking forward to our own underground place. 5-10 years.

A Low Impact Woodland Home

Not as far underground as our plan, but probably a few orders of magnitude more beautiful, and much cozier than what we've thought up.





Utterly awe-inspiring. Check it out at SimonDale.net

Acid-stained concrete flooring.

Who said concrete has to be ugly.



TheConstructionDeal.com has a blog detailing acid stained flooring that I find very informative and exactly what I'm picturing for a durable attractive and straightforward floor-solution. From the article:

Acid Stained floors are growing in popularity. Many people are looking to stained floors as an alternative to carpet, tile and wood. In addition to the marbled beauty of the surface, acid stained floors are low maintenance and don’t retain dust which may affect some people’s allergies. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the first people to use Acid Stain on floors in the 1920’s.

Everything2

Everything2 has a fun and funny article up concerning underground housing. The author is by no means an expert, but more akin to myself, someone very interested in building underground, who has done their homework on the subject. From the article:

"Earth houses are extremely awesome. The earth is 100% soundproof. Sheer novelty will keep visitors in awe and thinking that the owner must be some kind of deity. In case of attack by hordes of Mongolians, underground houses are defensible, they slighly resist fire (they take it better than a normal house, anyway), and can include hidden escape tunnels. The roof of an earth house can be planted on- the only space that can't be used twice is the face, and that doesn't apply to Envelopes which can use the courtyard."

Wind Power

In addition to the possibility of making a small hydro-electric power generator, we also have the more feasible (and cost effective) option of building a few wind generators.

I was perusing Make magazine and came upon a very cheap (about $200) turbine that you can craft in your garage. It seemed like a fantastic idea, and although I can't link to the Make article (subscribers only) I can link to a similar article on the PATH website.

I'm picturing the flat windswept landscape of the area north of the cities, and am thinking that three or four wind generators could significantly offset our electricity use, and possibly even end up making us some money in the long run.

It has to be said.

So there is an interesting side-benefit to building an underground home that needs to be addressed, as it's been in the back of my mind, but I've been reluctant to speak about it lest I seem a bit daft, or paranoid.

First let me simply direct you to the website Life After the Oil Crash, where a group of individuals is theorizing the downfall of human civilization as we know it.

Second, let me say that I don't really believe them, but that it is something that warrants attention. The reason for this is the simple fact that humans, for all our intelligence, are stupid as hell, and it is quite possible that the next few decades will bring about many opportunities to thrust our species into anarchy.

Now, the reason that I bring this train of though up here is because it is the people who have contingency plans who will be able to live normal lives in the VERY unlikely event that a major event does wash over the earth.

An underground house of the type that we are planning would in such a situation function not only as a great energy saver and fun place to hang out, it would also serve as a bunker and a very low-profile place to hide and live in a wacky-mixed up world. With enough land of suitable quality, it would be possible to grow enough food to be self sufficient, and the energy-efficiency of the house would mean that harsh winters and hot summers would have less effects on us than most.

Now, let me re-iterate that I by no means think that any event such as this is likely, in fact, I think that humans are going to live much the way that we have been for far longer than any of our lifetimes. The fact of the matter, however, is that it can't hurt to be prepared. For the same reason that you bring a multi-tool along when you go camping, we need to simply be aware of the unstable nature of our future.

Greatness

This guy built an Earth sheltered home in a very similar manner to what we are planning, The differences are the he used concrete blocks for the walls, whereas we are planning on doing poured walls, and that he only has about a foot of earth over his house, whereas we are aiming at 5-10 feet.

Earth Shelter at PineCrest And Underground Primer.



The main thing that he said that resonated with me was that it's much easier to design a house for the land that you buy, as opposed to trying to fit your design in an un-savory situation. Given, the possibility up here is mainly for the flat land around hugo, it still pays to be flexible.

Also, this site has a great little narration about a micro-hydro-electric dam that this guy built, It gives about 400 watts, 9.6 KWh, more than enough to make up the deficit in an active electrical household.

Micro-hydro.

That is all.

It's still on.

Oh it is very much still on.

Here's the tentative plan:

1) Adam and Vicki Graduate from UWM. I'm making the assumption that we WILL graduate, and likely at the same time, in May 2007. Immediately after this, we will be moving back to MN. Where we will be moving TO is up for discussion. Probably into an aparment in WBL(cheaper) or uptown(awesomer).

2) Gather people willing to make a massive investment in a communal underground home. Thus far the only "for sures" are Joe, Vicki and I. Ideally we would have two additional people/couples/etc. Everyone must be aware that this is a communal living arrangement and that it is likely a lifetime arrangement as well, as selling a 7000 sq foot underground home is less than easy.

3) Wait until everyone is financially stable. Meaning that all parties involved must have a stable source of income and little or no debt. Loans are the main thing to worry about. Financial security is the ability to pay the monthly rate of any home loan that we may take out, plus any monthly debt-related expenses, plus any living related expenses, with enough left over to accommodate any extreme situations.

4) Talk to an engineer and architect and draw up a plan for the house. We have ideas up here, but in order to build, we have to have detailed blueprints and a very smart underground engineer design all the more important aspects of our house. Namely, drainage, specifications, and codes. From this point we will start to know what the cost of the house will be, and we can decide how much each person will have to take on in loans/etc. Likely, with four-six people that will be between 50-75K a-piece.

5) Start construction. We can excavate ourselves, and we can do the furnishings ourselves. We can probably do the electrical and plumbing ourselves. We will want to have a contractor do the HVAC and septic system. We will have to have a contractor do the concrete. The concrete will be by far the most expensive part of the project, taking up about 75-80% of the total cost, but it is also the most vital part to a stable livable house, so there will be no skimping. Skimping can come later when we're talking about furniture and rugs, etc.

6) Live in the house for hundreds of years.




Other things to think about:

a) Purchasing a "normal" house in the interim, and sell it off to pay for the underground house. If we are able to fix it up, we can sell it for a profit, and it would alleviate some of the home loan questions that we are sure to get otherwise (you're building what kind of house?). Also, it would test out whether people are willing and able to live in a communal situation before investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a hole in the ground.

b) How awesome would an underground house be if WWIII happens? Very.

c) Our own personal wind/solar power station? Long shot, but it might be feasible if we've got a bunch of extra cash.

Conversation via E-mail

Joe and I were talking about water and heat earlier today, so I figured it would be good to have it on the site.


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Talking with Joe Stienworth last night, I found out that a good person
to talk to about some of this would be his Dad. He lives over by
eaglebrook church in a house that he designed from top to bottom to be
the most energy efficient house in every way. After it was built he
received an award from NSP(think) for basically not having to pay them
any money. It's not an UGHouse, but if I see him I'll have to ask him
a few questions because I'm sure he has helpful knowledge for
insulation on the outside walls, and other things of the like. Apparently
he only needs to start thinking about heating his house in late
November, and even then it's just a couple of logs in the fireplace
for a while.

Also, how will this water running through the floor be heated? Because
the way I understand it, the water running through the pipes is
traditionaly heated by gas. And aren't we not going to have gas out
there? Heating all that water electrically is supposedly more
expensive.

On a different note: I remember my dad telling me about a new type of
water heater that's much more efficient. Rather than heating a large
tank full of water, it heats only what you are using as you use it. So
theoretically you could take an infinitely long hot shower.
The efficiency come in when you're not home, because the water heater
is not trying to regulate the temperature of 80 gallons of water all
the time.

But, I don't know, electric water heaters seem like something that I
should look into, because it seems to me like they could work just as
well.


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Heh heh, yeah, it would be an electric hot water heater that heats the floors.

You're exactly right, no gas, too hard to deal with, too expensive, and too unreliable.

I seem to remember hearing about this type of hot water heater that you mention, it would definatly be something to look into. We might need two heaters, one for usable water(shower, cooking, etc) and one for the heat.

The great thing about water is that it does take a long time to heat up, but that also means that it takes a long time to cool down as well, making the temperature very stable.

Also, in the UGHouse, we would only need minimal heat from the floor, so it would really only need to be "warm" water, not really hot.

Another couple images from Malcolm Wells

www.malcolmwells.com



Traditional gas station,

and

Malcolm's concept design for a functional greenspace: