Welcome to the British Earth Sheltering Association (BESA) website!

The British Earth Sheltering Association is a non-profit making organisation that aims to encourage the design and construction of Earth-Sheltered (E/S) Buildings in the United Kingdom.

You may freely use the BESA public forum but to gain full access to the site you will have to become a member. Membership is currently £3 for once only registration plus 50p per month (minimum of six months) to access the private forum and other content.

Before joining, though, you may wish to ask questions about BESA on the public forum and/or read on to satisfy yourself that you have come to the right place.

BESA was founded in 1983 by three architects from Liverpool. In its long history it has helped interested architects, students, planners, self-builders, and indeed those with only a passing interest to keep up to date with all and any issues related to e/s building. During the last decade, members have become aware that BESA's original task is almost complete. That is to say, knowledge of e/s building designs and techniques have been widely disseminated and such structures are no longer regarded as curiosities in the UK.

We are aware that the term 'underground house' is sometimes used by others to describe the sort of architecture that interests us. It is true that some earth sheltered buildings are 'underground', in the sense that they are subterranean, or 'below grade', like a cellar, but some are constructed at ground level, then covered with earth, or earth-bunded. Many others are built into or onto a slope. Strictly speaking, earth sheltered buildings are those in which earth contributes significantly to the insulation and protection of the building shell. For this reason, BESA, as its name implies, prefers the broad term 'earth sheltered'. But we are happy to welcome you to this site even if you searched for 'Hobbit House' or 'Telly-Tubby' house.

In the UK, E/S buildings used to be built exclusively by pioneers with considerable budgets and the knowledge and skill to push their designs through the planning process. But now there are, in the UK, examples of e/s self-build communities, individual low-budget e/s homes, and e/s social housing projects. E/S buildings have come of age - they are represented in all sections of the residential housing market, and in the commercial and public property sectors too.

BESA itself is now entering a new era. Its central goal - to disseminate information about earth-sheltered building - is unchanged. But it will now shift from 'paper-based' to 'web-based' communication. We have attempted to archive as much of the old BESA material as possible so that none of the history is lost.

This forum/website is under continuous development, but took its first breath on 31st October, 2009. It aims to occupy a fairly narrow niche on the web. Although many of our members take 'holistic' and 'green' positions, discussions on this site are restricted to matters associated with earth-sheltering. If you want to discuss or learn about wider energy/green/environmental topics, then you may be better served by signing on (free) to the AECB or the Greenbuilding forums. You can find them at http://www.aecb.net/forum/ and http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/ respectively.

As the BESA site develops, we will feature pictures and accounts of members e/s projects, links to other E/S sites, past BESA magazines, book reviews, and useful articles about e/s building technologies and planning issues. In addition, members can email one another via the site without publicising their email addresses, and participate in the forum, or just lurk and learn from what others are discussing. We hope you will give us a try.