curly_kate
Almost Self-Reliant
DH & I are having a debate over what type of house to build on our new property. Luckily, we still have at least a year before we save the money to start building, but I figure it's good (and fun!) to start thinking about it now.
DH really wants to build an earth berm or underground house. Even with all his assurances of skylights, I feel like it still might be dark & have a lack of fresh air. Plus, I really really really really want a screened porch, and I'm not sure how you'd plop one of those on the front of an earth berm. Also, where we would have to site the house, it would be facing north, which seems like it would make it even darker, esp. in the winter.
I would like a small (1200 sf or less) passive solar house, which I think could be extremely energy efficient, given that we will be building with that idea at the front of our minds.
So for those in the know, could a small passive solar house be comparative in energy efficiency as an earth berm? I could see that the earth berm would be less, but I'm thinking the difference might not be as huge as DH thinks.
DH really wants to build an earth berm or underground house. Even with all his assurances of skylights, I feel like it still might be dark & have a lack of fresh air. Plus, I really really really really want a screened porch, and I'm not sure how you'd plop one of those on the front of an earth berm. Also, where we would have to site the house, it would be facing north, which seems like it would make it even darker, esp. in the winter.
I would like a small (1200 sf or less) passive solar house, which I think could be extremely energy efficient, given that we will be building with that idea at the front of our minds.
So for those in the know, could a small passive solar house be comparative in energy efficiency as an earth berm? I could see that the earth berm would be less, but I'm thinking the difference might not be as huge as DH thinks.