Earth Sheltering - Basic Information

Basic Information

The expression earth-sheltering is a generic term, with the general meaning: building design in which soil plays an integral part.

Definition of earth-sheltering A building can be described as earth-sheltered if its external envelope is in contact with a thermally significant volume of soil or substrate (where “thermally significant” means making a functional contribution to the thermal effectiveness of the building in question.)

There may be said to be three forms of earth-sheltered building: -

• earth-covered
• earth-bunded
• subterranean

An earth-sheltered building may be designed to combine some or all of these forms.

An earth-covered building is one where the thermally effective element is placed solely on the roof, but is more usually a continuation of the earth-bunding at the unexposed elevations of the building.

An earth-bunded building is one where the thermally significant element insulates one or more of the sheltered elevations of the building. The bunding can be partial or total.

A subterranean building is one where the thermally significant element insulates all elevations of the building, leaving only the roof exposed; or, if the building is built into an incline, it may be that the roof is covered and only one elevation is left exposed.