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"Holistic Living in harmony with the Earth" 
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Passive Annual Heat StorageWhat is it? ....PAHS (Passive Annual Heat Storage) is an innovative, practical and simple technoloy of heat collection, storage and retrieval. The principle was developed by John Hait of the Rocky Mountain Research Center in 1983.
The insulated umbrella also serves as a thermal break between the cold and wet top soil (top 2-3 feet), and the warm and dry soil below, thus increasing the amount of thermal mass available to you to store warmth. Conventional heating systems are unnecessary!
All the development has been done, the mistakes have been made, sytems re-designed, and working models built proving the methods for over 25 years. Earth Tube Ventilation....
During the summer months, free solar heat naturally moves through convection-powered heat-exchanging earth tubes and is saved into a giant thermal storage mass of earth. All winter, the air flow naturally reverses, bringing warm air into the home. Natural air currents provide fresh air ventilation and purge the house of indoor pollution, even radon, without using mechanical equipment. PAHS vs conventional solar power....Passive Annual Heat Storage works even in cold northern climates... or if it's cloudy all winter. It is all but impossible to collect a home's heating needs in the winter using solar power. But storing large quantities of excess summer heat in a natural, passively-operated reservoir... the earth, is easy! Constant comfortable temperature....An earth-sheltered home using Passive Annual Heat Storage, controls the summer heat input and winter heat loss to establish a new average annual inside air temperature, which in turn, will produce a new constant temperature in the earth around the home. The home and the earth will work together to remain within just a few degrees of this average all year long. In this way the environment around the earth-sheltered home can be climatized to any suitable temperature needing neither air conditioners nor furnaces. Insulation/watershed umbrella....
For an earth-sheltered home to remain warm all winter from the heat gathered during the summer, the heat-storing earth must be kept both warm and dry. Cold rain water is not allowed to soak into the ground around the home, as it will causes waterproofing difficulties and cools off the earth. Through an insulated and watershed umbrella (extending 20 feet out around the house), rainwater is collected and controlled, making the earth into a warm dry blanket around your home. Walls and basements stay dry! The umbrella is carefully made with 3 layers of polyethylene plastic sheets laid just like shingles, with insulation in between and a layer of protective earth on top. Inexpensive....Passive Annual Heat Storage using the earth tube ventilating methods is inherently inexpensive in comparison to the usual cost of building an earth-sheltered home. The insulation/watershed umbrella is made by laminating layers of rigid insulation with at least three layers of polyethylene sheeting. It is not only long lasting, but relatively inexpensive to buy and install. Also, waterproofing costs are reduced considerably because the home sets in a dry environment. After the initial cost of materials (insulation, plastic sheeting and plastic pipes), this natural climate-controlled method makes Passive Annual Heat Storage the least expensive energy management system anywhere!
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