The Earth-Dome Concept

The Dometown Prototype is a 21st Century "life pod" house that can recycle water, grow food, and provide a high level of living comfort. The modular domes contain a water source, an "eternal" power source (RWC, wind, water, or solar), and several very contemporary and comfortable living areas. It's a self-sustaining & expandable home, incorporating the best of modern technology with the architectural wisdom of ancient cultures.

The domes can be built by one or two people using simple construction techniques, skills, and tools. Building materials and construction costs are brought to an absolute minimum through design, yet the home is many times stronger than a standard wood house. Maintenance is also dramatically reduced. Many components and materials can be procured for little or no cost, and provide challenges during the design process that require a robust imagination.

The dome's designs are nearly limitless, and a few simple domes would make an excellent home with plenty of space. The layout of the domes would be modular, and the plumbing would be isolated to one "Water Dome". The hallways between the domes would encase a center greenhouse, or "Growing Dome". By bevelling the sides of the hallways and domes, terraces could serve as platforms for growing plants. Automotive hardware is used extensively, to reduce cost and expand functionality. Windows, doors, fans, and other twelve volt sub-systems are monitored via one or two ECM units, and related operator controls.

Building the Domes

The construction begins by digging a hole into the ground, wider than the dome's diameter and about two feet deep. The walls of the hole are lined with "Earth Bags", which are bags filled with a mixture of concrete and soil. Bagged bricks are the most economical way to create thick walls, but using other materials such as crushed lava rock (Scoria), granite, or ceramic beads as aggregate can increase the insulative value of the wall. Scoria is perfect for superinsulated earthbag walls because it is low cost, lightweight and easy to work with. Using hand-woven cloth sacks, the bricks can be shaped to suit the application (traingles, for instance). The bottom layer should be about two feet thick, tapering up to less than a foot at the crest of the dome.

The framework of the dome is electrical conduit pipe, flattened and bent at the ends. By fabricating couplers (or simply bolting the ends together) the chords are measured and fitted to bring the dome up. Once the dome has settled, the vertexes can be tack welded and sanded. The structure is covered in fine mesh and the E-bag technique, finalized with concrete. The most suitable dome for this purpose is the fourth-degree dome, which has good openings for doorways and windows, but leaves enough frame to support the concrete.

The Desert Domes Calculator is a valuable tool, and can calculate any frequency dome. The simple, rigid structure supports the weight load evenly, making it ideal for concrete applications. Start your exploration of conduit pipe geodesic domes at Desert Domes.

Power Generation

The Radio Wave Collector (RWC) Power dome is going to be the first device built on-site. By housing several batteries in a shed, and running the antennas outward, enough collective power can be stored in the battery pack to power almost anything. It's like several high-powered crystal AM radios. Here is a diagram of the components:

This "Collector" could also be scaled down and used for any small device that would normally use 5 volt USB power. The antenna and small container would sit on a shelf, recharging cell phones or NiCd batteries. Since these collectors are isolated, they do not depend on the grid for power, or stop working if the main power supply is discontinued.

The key to low power production is reducing the load by making the lighting, doors, windows, and air circulation system with twelve volt automotive hardware. By designing these components into the house, it not only clears floorspace and simplifies the electrical system, it costs less to procure and maintain. Batteries, the main sotrage medium for localized power, can only use direct current (DC), and must be inverted and transformed from DC to AC and back again numerous times in an average home. By using DC wherever possible, this waste is minimized.

I am currently experimenting with this technology, and have nearly finished a ZedPM Prototype. This crystal can also be incorporated into the Power Dome, fitting three into the top of the battery bank.

Aquaponics

The center hydropnic greenhouse uses cycling water to continuously feed plants with nutrients, also known as Hydroponics. By combining this system with a large fishtank placed at the bottom of each terrace, the fish add nutrients and provide a sustainable source of meat. Many freshwater fish thrive well in captivity and are sometimes tastier than wild fish. Other species or natural solutions can be used to balance the nutrients or normalize the pH. I like catfish in particular, and they are easy to grow.

The water is cycled through the fish tank, and back up to the top of the system. The fish are fed fish food or table scraps, and the plants benefit from their waste. A major issue with this type of setup is algae. Green algae grows in most freshwater environments, and competes with plants in a hydroponic setup for vitamins and minerals. The algae can even stick to roots and choke the plants out. By using algae-eating fish and snails, algae can be brought down to a minimum...but some natural additives will be required for an algae-free system.

Automotive Hardware / ECM

The dome will be equipped with an Electronic Computer Module, which is a standard part of most cars built since the early 1980's. This device is a very simple twelve volt computer that detects input from sesors, runs the data through a program, and sends out electrical impulses to a variety of servos or motors. The program inside the ECM is easily modified with a laptop computer, and the house would have the same OBD-II port that most autos have. The climate control, lighting, entertainment system, and even security alarms (with remotes) could be controlled with this ECM.

Coin Keys

The "Coin Key" is a metal disk about three inches across (with any inscriptions, carvings, stamps, or nothing on it) that has an embedded resistor inside of it. The resistor's contacts are on the front or back of the coin, and when it is placed against the "key panel" it completes the circuit, opening the door. Security can be improved by adding more resistors, and additional contacts, or allowing the key to perform several functions when placed into different orientation with the panel contacts.