Earth Sheltered Community Design: Energy-Efficient Residential Development

Rear cover notes: "Although the exploration of earth sheltered housing as a form of energy-efficient housing design began only in the last decade, it has already been established as a very effective means of providing aesthetic, cost-effective housing that significantly reduces energy consumption. Individual earth sheltered homes use 25 to 80 percent of the fuel required for more conventional housing. The success of earth sheltered housing on an individual level has naturally led to a growing interest in developing earth sheltered communities. The staff of the Underground Space Center has used all of the resources available to them as pioneers and acknowledged experts in the field of earth sheltered housing to compile Earth Sheltered Community Design. They examine all of the aspects of community design that must be considered by developers of earth sheltered projects, including: site selection, topography, soil data, orientation, climate, roads and utilities, site design, density, marketability and more. They discuss these topics in relation to conventional as well as earth sheltered development, thus facilitating comparison between the two types of housing. An analysis of a prototypical site for both conventional and earth sheltered housing applies many of the topics discussed to an actual site, providing a frame of reference for developers to use on their own sites. In addition, an examination of actual and proposed earth sheltered communities reinforces the applicability of the various design guidelines...."