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SameOldStory · 05-28-2011, 12:03 PM

I'll probably get someone mad at me for nit-picking, but here is a serious nit to pick.

Gizmag, one of my everyday reads had an article about an "environmentally-friendly" underground home.

Great! I've worked in a job that was completely underground with no problems at all. I LIKED IT.

So I was very interested in what it might look like inside. From the initial picture it would obviously be a little different than I expected.

Looking at the pictures in the article I can see that this is not an, as yet to be built, home for "environmentally friendly" conscious people, but for someone who has more money that they know what to do with.

Fair enough. I'd like to have too much money also.

Nits to pick:

Nice high mountain/hill location. Not useable in areas where most people live.
Most people will never be able to afford this (as yet to be built) house.
I'm not that sure how well a mountain/hill top ground source heat pump will work. Lots of technical problems to work thru in a hard rock location.
The design amounts to ten to twelve, floor to ceiling, glass walls with an earth covered roof. Oh yeah, it's "in the North West of England". Is it a bit chilly there for all that glass?
"it's also about designing buildings that are not at-odds with their surroundings". The planned photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine aren’t shown, but could definitely detract from "their surroundings".
"The ability to source building materials locally has also been taken into consideration in formulating the design." Is there a rock quarry hidden from the camera? There must be a lot of steel and concrete to hold up those "roofs". How close is "locally"? It looks like it might be a fair way away, even in their SUV.

I'll give this article, and house (if it ever gets built), an environmental F.

05-28-2011, 12:03 PM	#36
SameOldStory My True Self Posts: 3,126 Karma: 66242098 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Trantor, Galactic Center Device: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	I'll probably get someone mad at me for nit-picking, but here is a serious nit to pick. Gizmag, one of my everyday reads had an article about an "environmentally-friendly" underground home. Great! I've worked in a job that was completely underground with no problems at all. I LIKED IT. So I was very interested in what it might look like inside. From the initial picture it would obviously be a little different than I expected. Looking at the pictures in the article I can see that this is not an, as yet to be built, home for "environmentally friendly" conscious people, but for someone who has more money that they know what to do with. Fair enough. I'd like to have too much money also. Nits to pick: Nice high mountain/hill location. Not useable in areas where most people live. Most people will never be able to afford this (as yet to be built) house. I'm not that sure how well a mountain/hill top ground source heat pump will work. Lots of technical problems to work thru in a hard rock location. The design amounts to ten to twelve, floor to ceiling, glass walls with an earth covered roof. Oh yeah, it's "in the North West of England". Is it a bit chilly there for all that glass? "it's also about designing buildings that are not at-odds with their surroundings". The planned photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine aren’t shown, but could definitely detract from "their surroundings". "The ability to source building materials locally has also been taken into consideration in formulating the design." Is there a rock quarry hidden from the camera? There must be a lot of steel and concrete to hold up those "roofs". How close is "locally"? It looks like it might be a fair way away, even in their SUV. I'll give this article, and house (if it ever gets built), an environmental F.