Biodomes - Geodesic glass house/greenhouse

For the past 6 months i've been working on my steel and glass Geodesic dome.
Here are a few pictures :








This geodome is different from any other constructions that i've seen or heard of.
The model is 5m in diameter and 2.2 meters underground. It has a round (hobbit) door. It can be fitted with double glazed glass so that it is super insulated for winter.
The heating bills are probably smaller then any other type of construction. Plus in the summer it doesn't get hot like most other geodesic domes.



I also made this small glass geodome







In the future i want to build many more Biodomes cause i have so many great ideas.

I'd love to see a picture of the hobbit door. Also the hinges you used - there's a thread here somewhere about hobbit doors and what sort of hinges might work and I'd be very interested to see what solutions you came up with.

There is no picture of the door or the interior because it's not finished yet (lack of founds atm)
Once it's finished i'll post those aswell.

Its hard to sell people something that's unfinished, it sounds like you are more at the prototyping stage.

Where did you advertise your product? What exactly is it you are selling? Kits to be installed by the buyer or are you responsible for the full install and then the warranty on parts and labour?

Are you involved in fabricating the glass? Or is that something you are subcontracting out?

Are you expecting to sell your product locally? or is the idea to sell in multiple markets?

I once helped build a GeoDome back in the mid 90s and it wasn't easy, they're great when finished, but can be a real pain to build from scratch. With that said, sales of something like this are really tough as a good portion of the market who want GeoDomes, are the types who would want to build it themselves.

Your pictures look great and its rare to see Geodesic Greenhouses made of actual glass.

Cheers.

Hello George,
The dome will be completely finished in 4 to 8 weeks, would be much sooner if the budget wasn't so small.
It takes this much because the interior will be made with a vertical stone design.
Yes this would be the prototype but it's not my first glass and metal frame greenhouse.
I just posted the product on ebay and a real estate site. I'm also working on the site of our company BiODOMES.

I sell the finished product, it's structurally much stronger and much more visually appealing then anything i've build so far.

By finished product i dont just mean the dome itself but the interior as well (walls, stone work, electrical part, the heating, plumbing, round door, stairs etc etc)
All geodomes on the market are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter but this one would be the opposite. Making it the perfect EcoHome.
We make the glass panels as well.
Very few parts of the build are subcontracted since we are a team of highly skilled engineers, welders, electricians etc.

We build anywhere in Europe.

Thanks George !
Cheers !

remi willis wrote:
All geodomes on the market are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter but this one would be the opposite.

Why would it not be very hot in summer and very cold in winter?

Have you seen these guys ?
www.serre-dome.com http://www.serre-dome.com/sizes.html
They cost an arm and a leg compared to " normal greenhouses " I would like one BUT
Why should people buy a geodesic dome apart from the fact that it looks cool ?
I would really like to know what the advantage is . At the moment I cannot see it .

David

Rebecca Norman wrote:
Why would it not be very hot in summer and very cold in winter?

This model is 2,2 meters underground thus insulating it from the cold. The stone walls absorb the heat during the day and slowly release it during the night.
Just like a cellar, it never freezes and it has lots of natural light.
The Dome mirrors the sun's path maximizing solar gain all day and all year.

During summer, the thermal mass of the walls keeps the interior at a constant temperature, preventing overheating and the large round door slides to a side and provides a lot of ventilation.
For the very sunny summer days I will make triangle shades that can be mounted on from the inside.

David Livingston wrote:Have you seen these guys ?
www.serre-dome.com http://www.serre-dome.com/sizes.html
They cost an arm and a leg compared to " normal greenhouses " I would like one BUT

My product s completely different so i cant comment on the price.

David Livingston wrote:
Why should people buy a geodesic dome apart from the fact that it looks cool ?
I would really like to know what the advantage is . At the moment I cannot see it .

David

This Geodome model is 80% cheaper to heat and due to it's aerodynamic shape it is wind proof (up to 120mph).
The geodesic dome is extremely strong for its weight, its "omnitriangulated" surface provides an inherently stable structure, and because a sphere encloses the greatest volume for the least surface area.

Apart from all the advantages, i do think that beauty is as important if not more then the practicality of such a structure.


Here's a closeup img :

I assume that part of the heat saving comes from the reduced surface area for the volume as opposed to a cube etc .
What would be the effect for those who dont intend to heat their greenhouse.?
David

I only used an electrical heater when the temp. outside drop below -10/-15 C. Cause i only needed the temp to be above 5C for the plants.

I love your greenhouse - the model is cute too. I'm in Arizona and would like to build one of these out back, though it might not be practical for my climate unless I open the windows. I'm curious about how you attach the glass to the metal, and where a person could buy a metal framework designed for glass installation. Have you essentially soldered the glass in, as in stained-glass windows? I suppose a wood frame could also be created with glass panels if you layered strips of wood over the edges of the glass.

A much needed update, i recently finished our website www.biodomes.eu

There are a few more pictures of the dome there, and with the interior as well.

Right now the greenhouse is full of plants for overwintering, the most important ones are the banana trees (my favorite ones

Remi, thanks for posting your website. That is a beautiful and practical greenhouse. It reminds me of greenhouse kits available from the midwest of the USA, through Russ Finch who pioneered a similar concept: greenhouse floor below grade to protect from winter cold and summer heat. He is growing marketable citrus when it is snowing outside in the central plains of the U.S. He also uses greenhouse heat to help heat his house. http://www.citrusinthesnow.com/geothermal-book.htm

Do you use insulated (double pane) glass panels? Are plastic panels an option (more durable, lighter weight)?

Jerry

Jerry i also first kept citrus trees in there but i found that the banana trees prefer the space better, they love the height
I could have installed double pane glass but it was to expensive, and plastic isnt an option for me, it's by far not as durable as glass, it looks much worse, it scratches, it get yellow, it's hard to clean.
The only advantage of plastic is the light weight and insulation if the glass is single pane.  

We have a geodesic greenhouse in our backyard in the kootenays in BC,  Canada.  We built it using Kacper's plans.  Would have liked to have put in an insulated footwall to retain heat. I don't understand why the dome pictured is glass 360 degrees? We have an insulated north wall. Why lose heat out the north glass?

That's a good point Kes, the next one i will build will have an insulated north side. I'd love to see pics with your dome too.

What are the advantages of a geodome?

Jeffrey, i made a list of the top 10 facts about domes :

www.biodomes.eu/Why domes

And you can also find a little more general information about the advantages of geodesic domes on the homepage :

www.biodomes.eu