Making a White Dome Green

Oregon-based Envirodome is marketing its new composite domes for the home consumer.

Composite domes are largely used for disaster relief efforts (such as hurricane recovery) and for military settings. Oregon-based Envirodome, however, is marketing these composite domes for a different customer: the home consumer. They hope to appeal to the environmentally-conscious customer with a structure that is more adept to the elements.

The dome itself is comprised of 21 pieces of fiberglass composite with a gel coat finish. The finished structure is 20 feet in diameter, weighs approximately 1,100 pounds and can be installed in 3 ½ hours with 2 6-foot ladders, a 10-foot ladder and a couple of cordless drills with a 9/16^th socket.

Chuck Bertrand, president of Envirodome, says that composites are helpful in keeping the structure more portable. “Because you don’t have to frame it, it’s easy to transport. You can take the 21 pieces, lay them off in a pickup, tie them down, and you’re good to go,” he adds.

This portability is essential to make the Envirodome a 100 percent off-the-grid living option for “green” consumers. “Because of its size, you truly can be 100 percent off the grid with the product. Putting enough green material to completely power a normal-sized home isn’t practical, but putting it in this sized dome is practical,” says Bertrand. Chief among these materials are geothermal panels that heat water up to 220 degrees. “The water can heat the home through running pipes in the floor, and it can also be used to heat drinking and regular hot water for your dome,” says Bertrand.

The Envirodome can also provide a natural resource for cooling. The process involves burying a 300-foot hose five feet underground, near the dome. “The temperature in the ground is 55 degrees almost anywhere on the planet. So, if you take that underground hose and run it to a vent within the dome floor, and power a solar-powered fan to blow the cool air into the dome, you will continually pump 55 degree air in your home. It’s like having AC at no cost, and it’s totally sustainable,” says Bertrand. And he’s hoping that sustainability will extend to his business as well.