What’s The Matter With Domes?

I will not begin this article with the accusation that a real conspiracy exists in the housing industry to inflict genocide on the residential dome concept, but if one does not, in fact, exist, most certainly an implied and practiced conspiracy does exist.

If all of the allegations concerning the basic dome design were true, that they have no curb appeal, they are difficult to finance, that they have poor resale value, that they are difficult to build, and on and on, the fact remains that the inherent features of dome homes of economy of construction, structural safety, aesthetics, and energy conservation, far overshadow these real or implied objections.

Dome Bashing Today

Let’s look at the reasons why so much dome bashing is so prevalent today. One of the reasons, I believe, is the “good ol’ boy” syndrome. “We have done it this way since way back, and we are not going to change now. Besides, if we concentrate on bashing this system, we will be helping each other.” Eliminating competition.

I came into the system in 1975. The residential dome concept was relatively new. There were few dome companies in existence at that time, and those that were in business, were feeling their way through the intricacies of dome development. I say “feeling their way,” because of the lack of information regarding residential dome design and construction available to them at that time.

While it is true there was limited information available on dome design, through Dome Book 2 and the like, there was next to nothing to tell these pioneer builders of dome home systems,  how domes function, when used in residential housing.

Buckminster Fuller, the godfather of all dome thought, had all of the ideas necessary for the development of dome psychology, but little information about how to make this magnificent structure function as a primary residence. This is where some of the problems began.

A factor causing problems at that time, was the almost total lack of interest and information in the educational system relative to the dome concept. A sad commentary is that this situation of an almost complete lack of public information relative to dome mechanics is not much better today than it was 16 years ago. It is one thing to design a dome structure, but it is quite another to make the basic design work in all phases of residential construction.

Since limited relative information was not available at that time, it was quite clear that the development of the system had to come from the people who were already in the business. They were the pioneers who made the mistakes, but they went ahead into the unknown, and succeeded. Today’s dome homes are a testimony to the fact of superior home design and construction.

It is one thing to design a dome form, but it is quite another to transfer this information into a practical structure.

Dome Developments

A tremendous change has occurred in residential dome design in the past sixteen years. These changes have been brought about through the dome industry itself. Rest assured, these changes have not come from the housing industry in general, but from the actual experience of dome designers, builders, and manufacturers. These changes have made the dome structure a most formidable alternative to the square house design, and therein lies the problem.

If you are a builder and or a purveyor of square house products, would you be happy to see dome developments coming into your area? Probably not. And what would you do? The first thing I would do would be to talk to my banker, with whom I have a good relationship, because of my past history in the residential construction. I would recount to him, off the record, of course, all of the tall tales I had heard about dome homes. The next thing I would do, would be to alert my buddy, the building inspector, about all of the failings of the dome home. Then I would talk to the real estate person, who has been handling my sales in the past, and again, relay information that would scare the real estate market. The real estate industry in general, is a good area to have anti-dome propaganda spilled out into the community. All of these things are going on today, and particularly in these times of tough competition. I do not consider myself paranoid about this matter, because I have seen and experienced all of the above activities by our competition during the past sixteen years.

The EEBA Experience

Let me explain further. This is a true story. An organization known as the Energy Efficient Buildings Association (EEBA), sponsored by the University of Southern Maine, at Gorham, ME, has been holding annual seminars throughout the United States and Canada for the past several years relative to exploring methods of building less costly and more efficient housing.

We contacted them in 1990, after they had had their annual seminar in Denver, CO. They had NO representation from the dome industry in their program at that time, nor in any previous seminars. When questioned, their response was that no one from the dome industry had requested participation. They suggested that a presentation be made available for their upcoming seminar in Indianapolis in March of 1991, and we would be considered. We proceeded to present our material through their director, preparatory to  becoming apart of that conference. Two months before the seminar, our participation was rejected by the board of directors! Who are the board of directors? In going over the list of the members of the board of directors, it became quite obvious why they were unwilling to expose their members to this kind of competition. All of the directors were members or builders of conventional housing systems. Their reason? “No one on the board of directors was interested in ‘that type’ of housing.” Easy to figure out!

So what are we saying? Here is a housing organization, supposedly,

dedicated to Energy Efficient Housing and they are not interested in the ultimate efficient housing system available today. Would you be interested in a competitive system that has all of the advantages embodied in dome construction? “Not if it threatened my livelihood,” they are saying loud and clear.

A Call to Action

So, how do we combat this situation? One of the ways that we have been advocating from the beginning, is that the dome manufacturers stop bashing each other, and lend their efforts to making the logical comparisons to the square house builders. Tell the public the real truths about the archaic and inefficient square house systems. Let’s do a little bashing of our own.

At one time, there existed an organization known as the National Dome Association. Originally, the purpose of this organization was to promote the development of dome structures. What happened? I do not know, but I do know that no such organization exists today. In its place is an organization that is known as the Dome Manufacturers Council. They are the sole representation for the dome industry under the wing of, and in the same building, as the National Association of Home Builders. Now I ask you, just what is an organization, dedicated to building out-of-date and inefficient housing, going to do for the dome industry? Like putting the fox in the chicken coop. My guess is nothing. As a matter of fact, I know of nothing that they have done during the past several years to help the dome industry.

What can we do, as dome builders, to combat this monster? The first step should be for the dome industry to distance itself, as far as possible, from the NAHB. That should be a basic move.

The second alternative would be a determination on the part of the dome industry to come together in some way, to try to make its voice heard above the clamor of the NAHB.

I do not know how this can be accomplished, but I would welcome any thoughts the reader might have toward the solution to this dilemma.