Vital Signs - The Gund-Ream House

		The Gund-Ream Sod-Roofed Ranch House Authors: Scott R. Moses and Robb G. Wong School: University of Idaho Faculty Advisor: Professor Bruce Haglund
		Abstract: The Gund-Ream Ranch House was designed by architect Edmund Stevens, Jr., and was built in 1991. The house was designed with no central heating or air-conditioning. The intent was to let a passive earth-sheltered design keep the house comfortable, with a radiant floor heating system providing heat during the long stretches of cold, wintery days. The climate in this area is very demanding. Temperatures in the winter often dip to 40 degrees fahrenheit below zero, and summer temperatures commonly rise to above 95 degrees fahrenheit. The objective for this evaluation was to get a feel for how well the house is "working" today, 6 years after it was built. Before getting into the quantitative section of our investigation, some broad questions were developed to frame the study. Questions included the following: Does the skylight generate a "chimney effect" causing heat loss in the winter? How does the building's earth-shelter features perform during the summer, and likewise in the winter? How do the as-built conditions of the sod-roof handle the severe weather conditions of the site? Does the incorporation of the natural daylighting create a comfortable interior environment? Is the residence functional in relation to the needs of the homeowners? Through data collection and observation, the student researchers learned that one of the main problems of the Gund-Ream Ranch House is it's central skylight. It does not work well with the severe weather conditions at the site, repeatedly requiring repair. Furthermore, inserting the skylight on the top of the earth-sheltering scheme at the highpoint of the interior space created a "chimney effect" . This nulified some of the thermal advantages of the earth-sheltering, causing heat loss. The natural daylighting strategies throughout the residence work well. The skylight, even with its downfalls, did work well as a source of natural daylight. The local site conditions do require protection from heavy rains, wind, and extreme temperatures, which the earth-sheltering provides. It suprises many people to discover that solar heating and underground architecture go so well together. Many good things happen when a design pulls a blanket of living earth up over its north shoulder and welcomes the sun at the south side.

All contents copyright (C) 1998. Vital Signs Project. All rights reserved. Created: 11/16/98		http://www-archfp.ced.berkeley.edu/vitalsigns/bld/casestudies/ucb_idaho-gund_ab.html