Everywhere you go today it seems as if being eco-friendly is the in thing. This applies to everything from the food we eat, the clothes we wear and so on. One area that has been relatively untouched is houses. It’s not often that we see an eco-friendly home, but they do exist and one such example would be earth sheltered homes. The concept of earth sheltered homes is simple. A part or sometimes the whole house will be located underground. In most cases it will be built on the side of the hill and the house itself will become a part of the hill, with doors and windows showing!
The next natural question will be what the advantage of building a house this way? The main reason why an earth sheltered home is built is for energy efficiency. This means, regardless of what the temperature is outdoors; inside the house the air will keep a steady temperature. In fact, even according to conservative estimates, it is possible to save as much as 60-70 percent on energy consumption. What this means for people who own earth sheltered homes is that, the thermostat almost never gets touched throughout the year, no matter what the weather is outside!
There is a misconception that earth sheltered homes are cold, damp and dark. This is simply not true. As mentioned earlier, there will be doors and windows at the front side of the house. This will be enough to bring in all the sunlight it needs. And believe it or not, the air quality in these homes is usually better compared to conventional houses. Other benefit includes less fire hazard, pipes remaining intact during winter and less insect invasion. What makes earth sheltered homes different from ordinary homes as far as construction is concerned, is that concrete will be used instead of wood. All of these items put together is what makes earth sheltered homes popular with environmentally sensitive people.
