Sustainable architects Sydney and Melbourne
Earth Sheltering For The Most Sustainable Architecture.
The Earth's mass absorbs and retains heat. Over time, this heat is released into to the enclosing walls of an earth shelter. The main advantages of locating a building within an earthen rather than an atmospheric environment, is due to the substantial thermal inertia of the surrounding earth. There are two distinct temperature dampening actions associated with this phenomenon. One results in a dampening of temperature fluctuations which applies to both diurnal (from day to night) and seasonal temperature fluctuations. The other results in a time phase shift between earthen temperatures and environmental air temperatures.
Diurnal temperature fluctuations don't penetrate very deeply into the ground which keeps the temperature within an earth sheltered building relatively stable from day to day. However seasonal temperature fluctuations reach a depth of several meters. The time lag between air and ground temperature waves makes it theoretically possible for the major areas of an earth sheltered building to be warmed in the winter by heat which first penetrated the earth in summer. Conversely heat loss during the winter would render the earth a much cooler environment during the summer than the above ground environment.
There are numerous other benefits to be gained from earth sheltering. Earth sheltered buildings can be more easily designed to provide protection against natural elements such as hail, severe storms and bushfires. Earth sheltering can provide a more efficient use of land in urban settings (many buildings can sit below grade without spoiling the habitat above ground), better acoustic privacy, lower maintenance and perhaps most importantly they have a dramatically lower carbon footprint then conventional buildings.
The Earth's mass absorbs and retains heat. Over time, this heat is released into to the enclosing walls of an earth shelter. The main advantages of locating a building within an earthen rather than an atmospheric environment, is due to the substantial thermal inertia of the surrounding earth. There are two distinct temperature dampening actions associated with this phenomenon. One results in a dampening of temperature fluctuations which applies to both diurnal (from day to night) and seasonal temperature fluctuations. The other results in a time phase shift between earthen temperatures and environmental air temperatures.
Diurnal temperature fluctuations don't penetrate very deeply into the ground which keeps the temperature within an earth sheltered building relatively stable from day to day. However seasonal temperature fluctuations reach a depth of several meters. The time lag between air and ground temperature waves makes it theoretically possible for the major areas of an earth sheltered building to be warmed in the winter by heat which first penetrated the earth in summer. Conversely heat loss during the winter would render the earth a much cooler environment during the summer than the above ground environment.
There are numerous other benefits to be gained from earth sheltering. Earth sheltered buildings can be more easily designed to provide protection against natural elements such as hail, severe storms and bushfires. Earth sheltering can provide a more efficient use of land in urban settings (many buildings can sit below grade without spoiling the habitat above ground), better acoustic privacy, lower maintenance and perhaps most importantly they have a dramatically lower carbon footprint then conventional buildings.