With rising energy prices and the threat of climate change, energy costs and energy savings have become a central and important part in building. Therefore it is interesting to explore different and non-conventional methods of energy conservation. Building Earth sheltered houses is such a method. Earth provides good insulation and provides the ability to both reduce the total heating needs and to reduce the maximum power demand. The aim of this study was to construct a house in Malmö and see if Earth sheltered houses can be a cost effective alternative for the construction of sustainable and energy-efficient houses. Previous studies have shown that Earth sheltered houses have reduced their power requirement with up to 25% and their use of energy with 10%. Numerical calculations in Comsol Multiphysic 4.2, was performed on a house with different degrees of earth covering. Thereafter, additional investments because of the strengthened structure to accommodate the weight of the earth have been made. Subsequently, a number of economic calculations performed for various scenarios of future energy price were made. The study shows that it is profitable with Earth sheltered houses and that a 10 cm thick layer of earth on the roof is the optimal amount.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-102465 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Pisano, Christian, Hellgren, Rikard |
| Publisher | KTH, Byggvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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