Earth Sheltered

This last weekend was the annual Michigan Energy Fair.  I have wanted to check out the Energy Fair for years but have never had the right opportunity to make the drive.  This year I was determined to make the trip so I told my husband we were going!  It was in Ludington this year, which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive, but a beautiful drive.  There is something about heading north in Michigan.  Even the highway looks different.  A few days after I had decided we were going to visit The Energy Fair it was announced that, friend of this website, Adam Bearup would be showing his new documentary “Sheltered:  Underground and off the Grid”.  This was a bonus as I had missed the showing in May in Grand Rapids.

Uncle Rog, Adam Bearup and myself at the 2012 Michigan Energy Fair, Ludington, Michigan.

While visiting with Adam at the Energy Fair he was so nice to autograph a copy of his new book Build Green, Make Green, Save Green – A practical guide for environmentally-responsible home building.  Yesterday, the day after the long drive, I took the opportunity to relax in the hammock and read his book.

Overall, the book is a great beginning guide to building with energy efficiency and budget in mind.  That is the true value of the book!  Mind you, I have conversed with Adam for a few years now online and have met him once onsite at Earth Shelter Project Michigan.  I adore Adam and find him such a stand up man in an industry that makes me about as nervous as insurance salesman and car salesman.  But Adam has a mind that works in mysterious ways and he is so proud of his work and so detail oriented, he just stands out, as he should.  So when I read this book, it was kind of like filling in the blanks and giving me more detail about many topics we have covered in conversation over the past two years.    Adam introduces the book as just that, a conversation with him.

While many of the topics really deserve their own book in order to give the proper amount of detail really needed, this book is a great start down the path of making the better choices when building your next energy efficient home.  The next time a friend is considering building, I will beg them to read this book first.  This book will save them so much money in the long run, even if they have never considered energy efficiency in building.  And if they still don’t consider it after reading it, well, then we might not be able to be friends anymore.  ;)

If you are considering building with ICF, SIPS, Advanced Framing, Earth Sheltering, this is a must, just for the tips and tricks.  If you aren’t considering those methods, then why not?!

While I live underground in practically my dream home, I found Adam’s version of the home he would build on a budget the question I guess I always wanted to know the answer to and he answers it in this book.  Adam Bearup has seen it all and if he says this is what he would do, then it is exactly what I would do.  No questions asked.  Yes, I would berm it (LOL) but I wouldn’t even think twice of taking my own route otherwise, unless I had a crazy budget of course, and who does?  :)

If you are looking to build, it is a must read before you really decide how you want to build.  (Click on the pic to order your copy)

If you were going to build a new house, what would your priorities be for a new home?