Energy Consumption

No reasonable intelligent person can deny that the world is heading towards a turning
point with regard to its relationship with the environment. One aspect of this issue is
western society's current reliance on fossil fuels and, at current rates of consumption,
their projected exhaustion sometime next century. A large proportion of the fossil
fuels currently consumed go towards the production of electricity which is then used
for many purposes, one of which is regulating the climate inside man-made dwellings.

The search for alternative energy sources is of paramount importance and must be
pursued despite pressure from powerful groups (e.g. Coal Industry) with vested
interests in the current system. However, regardless of how our electricity is produced
we are still using it inefficiently in our buildings. This is largely due to energy
inefficient building designs that demand heating in the winter and cooling in the
summer. A good example of this are the glass walled sky-scrapers that are present in
most major cities; they may look good but they are extremely susceptible to external
fluctuations in temperature. Earth sheltering used in conjunction with passive solar
design can cause a dramatic decrease in the temperature fluctuations inside a building
and consequently dramatic effects on electricity consumption.

Noise Reduction

There are many advantages to living in an earth sheltered home, one of which is
savings in energy use. Yet another is the reduction in noise from external sources
inside the building. This leads to a more serene environment inside the stucture and
makes it possible to build earth sheltered dwellings in places where conventional
structures would be virtually unlivable e.g. next to major roads or in airline flight
paths. As well as these extreme cases the use of earth sheltering will make nearly any
building perceptibly quieter than its conventional neighbour, and the sound of said
neighbour mowing his lawn at 7:00 am will be that much less irritating.

Aesthetics and Land use

One of the more common motivations for building an earth sheltered structure is to
blend the building in with its natural surroundings. This is often the case on rural sites
where the owner wishes to build a dwelling but also retain the 'untouched' beauty of
the natural landscape. Although retaining the beauty of a suburban block is not often
of much importance, once the earth shelter has been built the area of land available for
growing plants is greatly increased over that of a block with a conventional building
on it. e.g.
Land use comparision

This is only one example and there are innumerable different combinations of
conventional vs. earth sheltered houses with differing amounts of available land area.
However, in general, on the same block an earth sheltered house will leave more
available land area than a conventional house (of the same size).

This double use of the land, house underneath, garden on top, means earth sheltered
houses can be built on smaller blocks than conventional houses and still have
sufficient space for outdoor living. This makes earth sheltered housing particulary
useful for medium-density housing developments, an area of construction that will no
doubt increase in the future as the world population grows and cities become larger
and larger.

$$ Cost $$

If you're not particularly inclined to being 'green' then the previous advantages of
earth sheltered housing may not appeal greatly to you. However one thing that
everyone (almost) cares about, is money. I will tell you now that building an earth
sheltered house can save you money. There are several reasons for this:

Reduced Energy Costs

This is the main area where cost is reduced in an earth sheltered house when
compared with a conventional home. As mentioned earlier one of the key advantages
to earth sheltering is a stabilisation of temperature inside the building. Because of this,
depending on the climate and the design of the building, some earth shelters can be
lived in perfectly comfortably all year without any need for heating or cooling. This
may not apply in your particular case however it is certain that the amount of
heating/cooling required in an earth sheltered building will be reduced. This obviously
leads to a reduction in electricity costs.

Reduced Maintenance Costs

Because an earth sheltered house has a large proportion of its walls covered with dirt,
they do not need to be painted or otherwise maintained. Earth sheltered houses are
also usually built with concrete or masonry which tends to be less expensive to
maintain than a house constructed with a wooden frame and plasterboard internal
walls. e.g. termites, rot.

Safety

Something that is truly universally desired is personal safety. Earth sheltered houses,
especially those entirely below ground level, offer increased protection from outside
events in comparison to conventional homes. This is particularly relevant to people
who live in places prone to either tornadoes or cyclones, other severe storms, bush
fires, etc.

Earth sheltered houses, usually built with concrete or masonry, are much less likely to
burn from the inside than a conventional home. Internal furnishings are likely to be
combustible however and smoke alarms etc. should still be used. Even if the contents
are entirely burnt there is still a good chance that the structure will remain intact and
be safe to move back into.