Visitor’s Guide to the Lovins Bioshelter

The Lovins Bioshelter is an experimental 4,000-square-foot residence and research center designed for extreme resource efficiency. Built between 1982 and 1984, it utilizes passive solar design, superinsulation (R-40 walls, R-80 roof), and advanced 'superwindows' to eliminate the need for a conventional heating system. The building generates a significant portion of its electricity via photovoltaic panels and uses high-efficiency appliances to reduce electricity and water consumption to a fraction of typical household levels.

• The Lovins Bioshelter achieves extreme energy efficiency, using approximately 10% of the electricity and less than 50% of the water typical for a household, while nearly all of its space and water heating is solar-powered.
• The building's thermal performance relies on 'superwindows' using Heat Mirror technology—a thin polyester film that reflects infrared rays while remaining transparent to visible light. These windows, some filled with krypton or xenon, allow the building to be heated ~99% by passive solar gain, eliminating the need for a conventional heating system.
• The structure is superinsulated with 16-inch thick walls consisting of two masonry courses sandwiching 4 inches of Freon-filled polyurethane foam. The roof is insulated to approximately R-80, and the building is designed to be virtually airtight, with uncontrolled leakage area smaller than a human hand.
• The building utilizes a combination of grid-interactive and stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems. The stand-alone system uses nickel-iron batteries for storage, and the total PV capacity was expanded to 3.8 kilowatts by 2002, providing about two-thirds of the building's annual electricity.
• The 900-square-foot greenhouse acts as the building's 'furnace,' collecting heat and light to warm the adjacent wings. It features a cantilevered concrete arch that contains a polybutylene pipe to preheat water for the active solar system, reducing the required collector area by over one-third.
• The building incorporates several high-efficiency appliances and fixtures, including a hybrid refrigerator using about 8% of the usual electricity, an Asko D3530 dishwasher, and ultra-low-volume Swedish Ifö toilets (3-liter and 4-liter models).
• The total direct construction cost in 1983–84 was slightly over US$500,000. The energy-saving features that eliminated the conventional heating system actually reduced construction costs by approximately $1,100, and the overall investment in energy and water savings paid for itself in about ten months.

APA

Hill, J. (n.d.). Visitor’s Guide to the Lovins Bioshelter. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Locations_LovinsHome_Visitors_Guide_2007-2.pdf

Chicago

Hill, Judy. Visitor’s Guide to the Lovins Bioshelter. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Locations_LovinsHome_Visitors_Guide_2007-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hill |first1=Judy |title=Visitor’s Guide to the Lovins Bioshelter |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Locations_LovinsHome_Visitors_Guide_2007-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hillndvisitors, author = {Hill, Judy}, title = {{Visitor’s Guide to the Lovins Bioshelter}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Locations_LovinsHome_Visitors_Guide_2007-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }