Eco-friendly Cave Dwellings

Traditional cave dwellings are an inspiring example of "green" living.

As the environmental impacts of building and urban sprawl are becoming more obvious, a research team in China looks at cave dwellings, an example of an elegant sustainable design solution.

"While we are looking for new ways of building to ensure a bright future for our planet, we may draw inspirations from the past when people had more harmonious relationship with the environment," said Jiang Lu, an assistant professor at Eastern Michigan University.

In China, more than 20 million people live in such cliff caves and many are building new cave residences. These dwellings provide reliable shelter, while having minimum negative impacts on the environment.  They are built from nearby materials and use simple hand tools, which avoids the cost of manufacturing, transport, and heavy machinery.  Additionally, the caves don't occupy land fit for growing crops and face south which is thermally efficient. 

"These cave dwellings reflect a core concept of Chinese culture--being in harmony with nature," said Lu. "They are the result of a people's adaptation to their environment with limited natural and technological resources. The people and their culture survived here for hundreds of years without leaving heavy marks on the environment."

--Sara Goudarzi

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Credit: Jiang Lu, Eastern Michigan University