Robert McConkey - The Complete Guide to Building Affordable Earth-Sheltered Homes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

The Complete Guide to

Building Affordable Earth-Sheltered Homes

Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

By Robert McConkey

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my father, F. Paul McConkey, who has been a lifelong source of inspiration. As a frustrated homebuilder himself, he taught me that your home is always where your heart is.

Foreword

C hthonic. (thonik) The first time I saw this word I thought it was a new comic book super hero. Chthonic actually dates back to classical mythology and refers to beings that dwell under the earth. I am chthonic! In fact, for 28 years now, I have been a part of a unique chthonic culture.

In a way, most chthonic individuals have to be strong willed because, in spurning conventional housing and choosing to live underground, they have selected a lifestyle that goes against tradition. In 1982, when the plans for my 3,000-square-foot underground home went through the zoning and building permit boards in Platte County, Missouri, there was some controversy over the proposed building. Not only was it the first such proposal in our county, but a recent tragedy involving a collapsed building in Kansas City had already made people in the area nervous about construction methods. The controversy came not only from the regulatory boards but also from family, friends, and even strangers. Yet, being the stubborn person that I am, the opposition only proved inspiring to me as I vowed to be strong and true to my belief and dream of an energy-efficient, disaster-safe, and cost-effective home for my family.

Choosing to live underground is not a one-and-done type of choice. An earth-sheltered life is a life defined by a number of choices. It did not take long for me to begin to recognize and appreciate the many blessings this lifestyle brought to our family. I found myself free of conventional comparisons. Our indoor slide actually became the envy of my childrens friends. I have always loved and appreciated the environment, but living in an earth-sheltered home brought me even closer to nature. I found myself stopping to look a little longer at the sunsets, the ever-changing vegetation, and the entertaining wildlife that seemed less afraid of me and my home than in other, more traditional settings. With concrete and steel beams underneath 3 feet of dirt and grass and over my head, I feel much safer than I ever have in other homes. Ice storms breaking large limbs or toppling entire trees would simply bring them to rest on our grass roof. Even a fire could not destroy the basic concrete foundation. Although tornados could possibly destroy our aboveground garages, they could not endanger us below. With our wood burning stove, should storms knock out the power, we can still stay warm, cook hot meals, dry wet clothing, and provide shelter and warmth for others as well.