[Cob] resemblance in cob and underground

[Damon Howell]

The University of Minnesota carried out extensive research on  
underground buildings and published a book back in the 70's. After  
reading about underground (basement) houses and their insulation  
values, orientation, size and placement of windows and even the dirt  
on the roof, I thought how much it resembles cob and how much more of  
an understanding I have of design. The major thing cob has that  
underground houses don't would be solar gain. In a basement house all  
your windows are on the south wall, and the rest of your windows  
would be skylights. Thermal storage may be about the same since a two  
foot thick cob wall is essentially like living in the ground. And the  
other thing, which I know American cobbers are against is the yards  
and yards of concrete that goes into an underground structure. I do  
believe you could design a cob home exactly like they design  
underground homes and come out with a very energy efficient home,  
plus have a lot of numbers because the university done the research.

Damon in GA