10 Amazing Underground Homes


So which one is your favorite? My favorite underground house in this video is the Estate Lattenstrasse in Switzerland. It’s not only super beautiful, it’s also energy efficient thanks to being underground and insulated with recycled glass foam insulation. More excellent photos of this house by Vetsch Architektur can be found on Architizer.com.

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Light Straw-Clay Construction Now Code Approved

Light straw-clay construction is in the 2015 International Residential Code
Light straw-clay construction is in the 2015 International Residential Code

“An appendix on Light Straw-Clay Construction was also approved for inclusion in the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC). To date only the states of New Mexico and Oregon have a section on Light Straw-Clay Construction in their building code. The proposal received a 6-3 approval vote at Building Committee Hearings in Dallas in April 2013. After public testimony and immediately before the vote, one committee member encouraged approval, commenting, “This is the future.”

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Why We’re Building an Earthbag Stemwall

Gravel bag stemwall built by Ziggy, author of Year of Mud blog
Gravel bag stemwall built by Ziggy, author of Year of Mud blog

“The small off-grid home we’re helping friends build here in the Appalachian foothills is getting a bunch of work done to it recently. The biggest task of the moment is building the earthbag stemwall, which we need to finish before our upcoming Straw Bale Workshop in July. We opted for an earthbag stemwall due to the availability of appropriate materials, the relative ease of construction, and the unique siting of the house. All things considered, I think going the earthbag route has been a good choice.

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