Page 10
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1978
Roof-suspended earth-home
Koll.
FALL
m
A&M team ‘goes underground’
for naturally insulated housing
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Illustrations by
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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
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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 *’?;.£**
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LUNCH SPECIAL!!!
Bar-B-Que Plate $2.29
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Half pound $2.29
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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.
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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