So I've been researching on different alternative buildings such as container homes earthships and what not. During my research I came across John haits book on the PAHS umbrella home. I haven't finished it yet but I can't help but think about how I could design my own home. For awhile I was thinking about burying a container but I've read many things stating that containers are not designed to withstand the weight of being buried which makes sense. Now the other night I had a thought of what if you turned the container sideways so it was in the shape of a diamond and then buried it? Would the container be able to withstand more weight since the corners and edges are thicker? Or would you still need to build supports to prevent from caving in? If it were to withstand the weight my idea is to lay out 5 containers in the shape of a star and either get a 6th to tear apart and reassemble to connect all the containers together to make a main room in the middle of the star. If this is plausible I would have the bottom of the star facing the south and place windows on the bottom 2 containers lIke you would for an umbrella home. I know in John haits book he's stated that you need between 7 to ten feet of isolation ground, with having a star shape I would fill dirt between each point of the star which would me more than ten feet at the outer edges of the space between the star points with this would You need ten feet of isolation ground on top of the containers? Or could you do with less having an umbrella over the whole structure? Also I know the PAHS system works better with 6 months of summer where I am going to be building is in alaska where summer is not 6 months so I was planning on having a rocket heater to keep my home a little more cozy if needed. This is all just a thought I had and I'm just looking for input from outside of my box. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
sklar
