ALTERNATIVE SOLAR HOUSING
Rod Serling might say that our choices are only limited by our imagination. I wish. Unfortunately the real world has a way of imposing limitations. Location, cost and availability of building materials are just a few of the limitations we have to deal with. Let's compare an ideal shelter designed by Buckminster Fuller with conventional shelter and use the best features of both to design a 21st Century house.
Conventional housing consists of a rectangular frame with a pitched roof. If the roof is oriented in a southerly direction all if not most of the household energy needs could be met with solar energy applications. Building materials are easy to come by and the technology to build such a structure is well known. However the space directly under the roof is not suitable living space. The geodesic dome has no wasted space under the roof if you don't mind high ceilings.
Buckminster Fuller's concept of "Doing more with
less." applies to the geodesic dome. A sphere has the largest internal volume with the
smallest external surface area which means there are less materials required to
build a dome than are needed for a conventional shelter. The stability
of triangles combined with the stability of arches forms a
self supporting super structure that is synergistic in nature.
Unfortunately standard construction material do not come in the shape of
triangles so there is much waste. Also it is difficult and expensive to make the
roof/walls dome water tight. Insulation, living space arrangements, and solar
application are other issues that limit the popularity of geodesic shelters.
4 SIDES Conventional housing is built on a four sided foundation. The New England salt box is a good example of this square type of house.
5 SIDES Geodesic domes are built on a multiple of a five sided
foundation.
The simple one frequency geodesic dome is built on a five sided base
called a pentagon.
6 SIDES Cube octahedron hemispheres roofs are built on a six sided base called a hexagon. Imagine a hexagonal house 32 feet across with 16 foot long walls and a cube octahedron roof. Now take two of these units and join them with a square house. What do you think it might look like?
This hybrid structure has design considerations somewhere between the geodesic dome and a conventional roof. The domelike part of the project is a cube octahedron hemisphere: It consists of three 16'X16' sections framed on a flat surface and raised into position by two people. The triangular sections may be added later. Standard inexpensive construction materials are used to frame and finish this cube octahedron. Solar Panels may be then be easily mounted flush on a square section of the roof. Notice the steep roof/wall ideal for maximizing solar absorption in cold climates. A properly sloped, properly oriented 16'X16' roof like this could harvest the energy equivalent of 800 gallons of fuel oil in the New England area of the USA.
