earth sheltered housing_ an approach to energy conservation in hot arid areas

8/13/2019 Earth Sheltered Housing_ an Approach to Energy conservation in Hot Arid Areas.

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J. King Saud Univ. Vol. 3, A rchi t ectur e and Pl

Earth Sheltered Housing: An Ap


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4 Abd-El-Hamid M. Kh

Introduction

Today, earth sheltering is a novel idea for

however, is hardly a twentieth century phenom

present, people all over the world have built and

Prehistoric cave dwellers, seeking warmth a

severe chose an existing natural eart


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Earth Sheltered Housi


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6 Abd-ELHamid M. Kha

Heat and Cold

It is not surprising that the people who have

tures in Libya and Tunisia for at least 2000 years

from dwellings which are well insulated against t

nights. Underground structures make use of earth

the interior from radiation and provide a huge thetures. Furthermore, at a depth of about 2.5 meter

ture of the earth is remarkably even and remains


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Earth Sheltered Housing . .

tively stable temperature of the soil, the house in summ

rather than gaining heat from the surrounding air, and

soil offers a much better temperature environment tha

PI.This concept is clearly confirmed by examinatio

temperature fluctuations at various depths Daily fl


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8 Abd-El-Hamid M. Khair-E

ings. For example, in Minnesota, soil 3 m below th

perature not in the dead of winter but in early sprinto warm. By the same principle, this soil is warmes

temperatues begin to drop. Hence, the periods when

is likely to be necessary are shorter than is the case fo

Another energy-saving characteristic of eart

guished from aboveground structures, is the loweconventional, not well-built, aboveground house l

h h k d i d d d d


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10 Abd-El-Hamid M. Kha

Earth sheltering is not the only means of savriate use of superinsulaiton and active solar and/

energy performance in conventional homes sim

dences. Earth sheltered homes, however, do ha

genrally much quieter than conventional, abovegrrounding them dampens noise from the outsid

- concrete is still the most commonly used strucminproof and usually more fire resistant than o

h d l di h d


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Earth Sheltered Housin


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12 Abd-ELHamid M. Khair-

In Riyadh, and in the southern hemisphere ining winter winds are from the southeast [5]. The denorth and northwest [5].Earth sheltered constructnity to totally shield the structure from the prevaili

However, to create natural cross ventilation

such as windows or vents must be provided on the

the building.


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Earth Sheltered Housing


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14 Abd-ELHamid M. Khair

one elses window. Wells prefers houses that ar

house is more cavelikethan the trium home, beingside. The southern exposure orients the front wall, u

space, to strong sunlight which fills the upper level o

drive solar-heating units to warm the building [3, p

Variations on these two basic types range frthan one wall to combinations of the atrium an

levels sometimes partially above and partially be


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Earth Sheltered Housing . .

masonry. Finally, the water table level must be sewith possible additional lateral pressures on the wa

The thermal properties of the soil -if one of the

initial costs are reasonable -will facilitate the com

construction (soil excavation, dewatering and concretsaved in the long run, conditions related to the insu

efficiency however varies with the soil type and


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16 Abd-El-Hamid M. Kha

allow the natural beauty of the land to remain. Sufor their silence and quietude, successful for cen

in the natural and social environment, will continu

The Arab world must adapt its housing nee

sheltered housing, the technology for which is alr

that direction.


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Earth Sheltered Housing . . . .


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Abd-El-Hamid M. Khai

earth sheltered housing_ an approach to energy conservation in hot arid areas

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