Cleveland Real Estate News

Have you ever heard of an earth shelter home? Wikepedia describes this construction as “….the architectural practice of using earth against building walls for external thermal mass, to reduce heat loss, and to easily maintain a steady indoor air temperature….” 

I found a site called Earth Shelter Technology, Inc. and it intrigued me. It’s not as if their designs are necessarily that different in appearance from other new construction homes, but there are some major differences.

1. They believe the construction is best with concrete because it lasts longer.

2. They say their designs typically cost no more than a ‘medium priced home in your market’ – they do not list prices on their website so at first it seems like the ‘market price’ you see on the lobster menu. But they made it sound like it would be less than $110/square foot.

3. They already build them in places like Iceland so they would easily work in NE Ohio! Some modern designs and ideas really only sound like they would fit in or be practical in warm weather climes. This seems adaptable to us.

4. They claim that the interior temperature of your earth sheltered home would never, even in the dead of winter, fall below 55 degrees F. Even more intriguing no?

5. In order to let in a good amount of natural light throughout the earth shelter home, this company includes cathedral ceilings in each design plan.

At first I was going to call the company tomorrow, and I still might do that at some point.  But I think instead I’m going to call Eco Village and Green City Blue Lake and get some feedback.

One of the things they say on the E S Tech. Inc website is that Realtors® will not be familiar with or open to a house like this. About the first point, if there aren’t any, then yes. I am (up until now) unfamiliar with the total concept. I know of homes built into hills but not this. 

As to the second point, give me a break! And it’s not just me who would be open to an idea like this, I can imagine a thumbs up from everyone in my office.

Anyway, I’ll do some interviewing and then post about this again. Have any of you ever lived some place where earth shelter homes were available? I’d love to know what you think. My gut reaction is, the styles would look great in NE Ohio, the energy savings would be wonderful, and concrete construction most definitely is appealing to me.

I’m also wondering how frequently the thermal covering on the outside of the house has to be updated, if at all. Once again I have lots of questions and this time I’m going to make calls to get them answered. And wait for you guys to weigh in as well.  Peace out – 3C