Note the protective black tar and the sheet insulation wrapping the base of the environmental center building. When soil is bermed up against this (later the same day), the building will in part demonstrate the principle of "earth sheltering." The mass of soil helps even out heat flow. Actually, the covered surface area may not be great enough for a large insulating effect (more area will be of glass in a passive solar design), but something of the principle is there to be seen. Utility connections are visible in a narrow trench, just before being backfilled with earth.
Photo: Arnold Clayton Henderson 7/26/2006
