Anyone for going down under?

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
Earth shelters may be the next wave of building if runaway climate change stays on it's current trajectory.
It is done in some parts of the world, and people have lived in caves since ...... well, cavemen. Sort of going back to where we started.
Below the ground, temps can remain pretty stable and comfortable, thus drastically reducing heating and cooling costs. Wineries take advantage of it.
Skylights can let in natural light for living and even growing plants.
You can have a built in root cellar, just like our grandparents used to do.
Building technology can now create underground structures safe from cave-ins, and even be waterproofed.
You could still go outside in the morning and evening, but escape the heat during the day living in your cave home.
Bonus: No need to ever paint the outside of your home, and you already have a nuke shelter when that eventually happens.

Underground home.jpg
 

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bobcat said:
Earth shelters may be the next wave of building if runaway climate change stays on it's current trajectory.
It is done in some parts of the world, and people have lived in caves since ...... well, cavemen. Sort of going back to where we started.
Below the ground, temps can remain pretty stable and comfortable, thus drastically reducing heating and cooling costs. Wineries take advantage of it.
Skylights can let in natural light for living and even growing plants.
You can have a built in root cellar, just like our grandparents used to do.
Building technology can now create underground structures safe from cave-ins, and even be waterproofed.
You could still go outside in the morning and evening, but escape the heat during the day living in your cave home.
Bonus: No need to ever paint the outside of your home, and you already have a nuke shelter when that eventually happens.

View attachment 355387
Click to expand...
Thereā€™s someone on our site who has an underground home. Her entire house is underground. She showed me some pictures of it once and it looked similar to this. She says her husband and her had it made after the children left. Iā€™d imagine itā€™s fairly easy to moderate temperature. Anyway, they seem to really like it.
 
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I had a friend who lived in a very similar kind of house. No sun light except for the doors. I built our house with a "Terrain/Walkout Basement". It was cool enough to sleep in the 100F days.

sddefault.jpg
 
Living underground may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as situations change, often our attitudes do as well.
We are seeing a shift in the length and character of summer and winter seasons. In general, summer temperatures will arrive earlier than they currently do, and they will be hotter and last longer than they do now.

As with many situations, there are trade-offs, and one has to see more value in what they will be getting as opposed to what they are giving up. Lower utility bills, increased security and safety, quieter environment, less maintenance, and more privacy may be enough to tip the scales to living underground.

It doesn't need to be an all-exclusive way to live. One can still do things outside (Shopping, appointments, dining and such), but one's comfortable and secure home could still be a place of refuge whenever it's desired. You could even have an outdoor patio to enjoy for mornings and evenings. If danger threatens, you've most likely got a better chance underground.

If it's 120 outside and the power grid goes down, or nukes start flying, or tornadoes come calling, or a tree decides to come crashing down, it may be a safer haven.


Inside underground.jpg
 
bobcat said:
If it's 120 outside and the power grid goes down, or nukes start flying, or tornadoes come calling, or a tree decides to come crashing down, it may be a safer haven.
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That's why almost all houses here in SK and in MB have basements for. Mine is same hight as the house and has small windows on the back side of the house. Right now it's very cool actually cold. Have to through a light sweater over my shoulders when I go down. And it's under the entire house. Some people are renting part of them as an apartment. When there are tornado warnings I'm down there. But I don't think I would like to live permanently there.
 
Sounds great until you have a leak in the ā€œroofā€, or maybe a wall or the floor. If you want cool, stick with a place within a few miles of the coast in the range of cooling fog or ocean breezes.
 
bobcat said:
Earth shelters may be the next wave of building if runaway climate change stays on it's current trajectory.
It is done in some parts of the world, and people have lived in caves since ...... well, cavemen. Sort of going back to where we started.
Below the ground, temps can remain pretty stable and comfortable, thus drastically reducing heating and cooling costs. Wineries take advantage of it.
Skylights can let in natural light for living and even growing plants.
You can have a built in root cellar, just like our grandparents used to do.
Building technology can now create underground structures safe from cave-ins, and even be waterproofed.
You could still go outside in the morning and evening, but escape the heat during the day living in your cave home.
Bonus: No need to ever paint the outside of your home, and you already have a nuke shelter when that eventually happens.

View attachment 355387
Click to expand...
Bunkers
 
It sounds like a useful option, though I don't know how many stories downward a building could be built (pretty sure some skyscrapers have maybe three floors below ground?).

I bet cattle, horses, etc would appreciate it if we built them some cooler shelters, but not sure what design they'd be willing to go down a ramp into without feeling like they'd be trapped.
 
HoneyNut said:
It sounds like a useful option, though I don't know how many stories downward a building could be built (pretty sure some skyscrapers have maybe three floors below ground?).

I bet cattle, horses, etc would appreciate it if we built them some cooler shelters, but not sure what design they'd be willing to go down a ramp into without feeling like they'd be trapped.
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Earthscrapers have been designed with up to 75 stories below ground, and received wide acclaim, but I don't know if any have been started yet.

Since people generally have an innate fear of being in confined spaces, design is very important in making them feel comfortable and allowing them time to get used to it. I think the first time or two that someone rides in the subway, they feel a bit uneasy about it, but after you do it every day, it just becomes normal.

You feel it when you drive through a long tunnel, or even get into a plane to fly anywhere, but after you do it a bit, we usually get acclimated. However, it helps a lot if it's spacious and well lit. I have been in many shopping malls where the lower level is below ground, but you don't have that perception at all because of the design and space. It's really an illusion.
 
bobcat said:
Living underground may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as situations change, often our attitudes do as well.
We are seeing a shift in the length and character of summer and winter seasons. In general, summer temperatures will arrive earlier than they currently do, and they will be hotter and last longer than they do now.

As with many situations, there are trade-offs, and one has to see more value in what they will be getting as opposed to what they are giving up. Lower utility bills, increased security and safety, quieter environment, less maintenance, and more privacy may be enough to tip the scales to living underground.

It doesn't need to be an all-exclusive way to live. One can still do things outside (Shopping, appointments, dining and such), but one's comfortable and secure home could still be a place of refuge whenever it's desired. You could even have an outdoor patio to enjoy for mornings and evenings. If danger threatens, you've most likely got a better chance underground.

If it's 120 outside and the power grid goes down, or nukes start flying, or tornadoes come calling, or a tree decides to come crashing down, it may be a safer haven.


View attachment 355446
Click to expand...
I believe your photo is Dick Clark's "Flintstone House" in Malibu. Definitely not built underground.

Here's another image:
1720714908168.jpeg
 
Funny how quickly tech advances move and gain acceptance compared to concepts like this. I remember talk of and prototypes of various earth-bermed and underground designs when i lived in NM in Mid-1970s.

If we came into a sufficient windfall we definitely would.
 

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