I'm not sure if "greenhouse" is the right word here.

I saw a new house named Atri built by a company called Naturvillan and it's got me curious. This is my first ever thread on permies, so please be gentle with my non knowing self - I did look and was unable to find threads on A frame houses. (I will attempt to add a picture of it to this post).

1) Is A frame a good design for a self sustainable type building? Or as self sustainable as you can get. I don't know anything about building houses, but I want to learn. Assuming the entire exterior would not be glass or at least some sort of window material, as well.

2) Why not just build a large greenhouse type building and live in it? I'm in the midwest so as long as I can account for hail and tornados, it would be nice to live in a greenhouse with a fireplace in the wintertime, right? The original house does not include a fireplace, but I grew up on a woodstove and I need to have wood burning in my future home. Where we live right now, sometimes the electricity can go out for weeks and I would rather be able to not starve or freeze.

3) If building a house like this, would it be better to dig down into the ground 2-4 feet for the base of the building and place on top of a downward sloping area? Preferably with a concrete base or something similarly tamped down. If so, why? If not, why not?

Also looking for ideas regarding a filtration system for gray water and rainwater - currently tossed between burlap mycelial bags that water soaks through slowly, so as to not allow rotting, but long enough to filter; and the typical reed/rock system I've seen others do. Any info on either of those would be appreciated.

https://wevux-imgs.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/26170342/rimage-3-1200x675.jpg

Hi Morrighan,

Welcome to Permies.

Hi Morrighan,

My first reservation for living in a greenhouse like you’re talking about is that maintaining comfortable living temps would be nearly impossible half the year. As well, I feel like major winter fluctuations (freezing outside, fireplace going inside) will cause glass to crack or shatter at some point, unless big bucks are spent building it.

It’s a fun thought, I feel like one way to do something similar would be to actually build this concept & build another small house, possibly connected; I’d then have most of the amenities in the house so that I’d spend my time in the greenhouse just when the weather is right.

Have you checked out any of the Permie info about underground houses?

https://richsoil.com/wofati.jsp

oh! or how about building an elaborate wofati greenhouse that also acted as your house?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHdyG_80iJs

But hey, with Rocket Mass Heaters, anything is possible! I love the idea and look forward to hearing what direction you take!!

When I looked at the Atri my first thought was that is really pricey.

Then I thought "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks."

Similar to Chris' suggestion, have you looked into a Passive greenhouse or a wallipini?

https://permies.com/w/greenhouse

https://permies.com/t/178163/Walipini-underground-greenhouse-actual-experience