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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1978)
Page 10 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1978 Roof-suspended earth-home Koll. FALL m A&M team ‘goes underground’ for naturally insulated housing TcH fTS CATO C te' A^feA t^CAirl i fS>LE^ i HArfe^ ^.(9t4t^9L- MOVING? SAVE $$ U-Haul Moving Experts U-RENT-M Come by now & reserve yours. m- Small Trailer SpL Medium Trailer 16 1 Van Truck 2305 S. Texas Ave., College Station - Ask for Jim 1904 Texas Ave., Bryan Ask for Lannie FREE - Moving Guides Illustrations by Dorothy Baker Aggie AUNT FRANNIE’S LAUNDRY 1 Blood Drive April 3, 4, 5 By GREG PROPPS “Going underground” may take on a new meaning. It may soon mean an innovative and energy effi cient form of urban housing. Gary Sorensen, a lecturer in the civil engineering department at Texas A&M University, is doing re search on using the earth as a build ing material, and using wind, water, vegetation and the sun as a climate modifier. Sorensen’s research in cludes building houses partially un derground. By using a subterranean design, the builder can take advantage of the earth’s insulative properties. The ground is slow to react to climatic temperature change and serves as a perfect year round in sulator, Sorensen said. Don Sweeney, assistant dean of the college of architecture and environmental design, and a partner in the research, said there is a rela tively constant soil temperature at 30 feet below the surface, and in a moderate climate, such as College Station, that temperature would al ways be 68 degrees. Building a house partially under- ground would utilize this constant fe temperature to reduce heating and | cooling costs as well as reducing 1 construction energy consumption. | Sorensen said that by using indig- | enous or locally occurring building I materials, energy could be saved, j This would leave conventional APRIL SPECIAL WASH, DRY & FOLD SERVICE V2 PRICE Good during April with this ad only 1-DAY DRY CLEANING SERVICE Attendant on duty e Color TV • Comfortable Furniture “SELF SERVICE OR LET AUNT FRANNIE DO IT FOR YOU” 1502 HOLLEMAN (Across from Sevilla Apts.) 693-3806 calling all artists! THE ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR April 26 & 27 Come by the Craft Shop and register for your booth. Registration: April 12-25 $5 for 2 days SPONSORED BY THE CRAFTS & ARTS COMMITTEE Sun Theatres SPARKEY’S 120 Walton Dr. East Gate NOW OPEN at Noon Mon.-Fri. This coupon worth $1.00 off reg. price ol<b BAR-B-Q Plate *’?;.£** ; .'I;:, LUNCH SPECIAL!!! Bar-B-Que Plate $2.29 Quarter pound $1.29 Half pound $2.29 . • • ' • • • v Happy Hours from 11:00 a.m, to 7:00 p.m. daily Buy one Beer Pitcher or cup & get one Sparkey’s 120 Walton Dr. College Station - Now open for lunch. 333 University 84* The only movie in town Double-Feature Every Week Open 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Sat. 12 Neon - 12 Midnight Sun No one under 18 Escorted Ladies Free BOOK STORE & 25c PEEP SHOWS 846-9808 building materials free for other uses. L. Dale Webb, an associate pro fessor in civil engineering, and another partner in Sorensen’s re search, said since cold air settles in low places, proper ventialtion would allow the house to become a pool of cool air in the summer. Closing off the ventialtion would keep the house warmer in the winter. One of the team’s designs in volves digging out a suitable space and running structural beams across the hold at the ground level. The inside and outside walls would then be hung from these beams. Webb said that hanging walls from above makes them non loadbearing. This would make it possible to have moveable inside walls for a more flexible living space once the house is finished. A sus pended wall would not need the strength of wood and could be made of a less expensive material. The roof would be built several feet above the ground surface to allow natural lighting through skylights and provide a view of the outside. This would give the house a more conventional look, helping to dispel the misconception of living like a mole. This design would also allow land-- scaping around the structure, to help generate or dissipate air cur rents around the house. The projected costs for a house of this type would be around $15 per square foot as opposed to $35 per square foot for a conventional struc ture, Sorensen said. Another deisgn involves tunnel ing into the side of a hill, still using the earth’s insulative properties, but allowing the southern wall to re main exposed. This way a comfe tional front door and windowsem he used, Sorensen said. Exposing only the southern^ also helps to reduce coolingp heating costs. Sorensen saidfl this design would allow housie steep hills that would otherw« unsuitable for building. Sorensen is in the process en uring a 13-acre site at the Univea Research Annex to build of his housing ideas. He suggd the Construction Equipment^ ing School at the annex couldij to build the structures. The idea of building partialljj derground is not a new one) Chinese have done it for cental But Sweeney said there isaprt in selling the idea to the pil People just won’t accept ante this until it has been researched! reintroduced locally, said Swef ^=CUTU£<f| fey GREAT ISSUES PRESENTS AN and the PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE DR. AL BEHNKE Ciptiii DSHwy Mtdieil Corps, Kitirid 66 Father of Diving Medicine 701 Rudder Wednesday April 5 8:00pm STUDENTS OTHERS $1.00 Chris N. Hinds Junior Senator COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING 845-7867 The football team gets Its news from the Batt. Meet The Candidate Will There Be Blood If You Need It? .I<>lf\*IIlIJ. ★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ft ... only if there's a volunteer donor to provide it. Like yourself Blood has to come from another human being. It cannot be manufactured You can be that volunteer donor on April 3-5. Wadley Central Blood Bank is proud to have been associated with this 12th Man tradition of service to humanity during the past 18 years. We look 'orward to continuing to participate in the Texas A&M Blood Club drives tor many years to come and we pin with all Texans in saluting this unparalleled gesture of generosity and concern for one's fellow man' GOVERNOR AGGIE BLOOD DRIVE APRIL 3. 4 and f- LOCATION: MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER SECOND FLOOR (ROOMS 228-231) TIME: 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p m Wadley Central Blood Bank Thursday, April 6 Reception 3:30 RAMADA INN Contest Prizes Donated By: Duddley’s Draw Miller Beer Sparkey | Political Advertising paid by John Hill Campaign Fund, Lowell Labormann, Treasure 1039 Brown Bldg., Austin, Texas 79701, telephone 912/478-6480 1