[Spaceships] Query: Can dirt shielding reduce an IR Signature?

[DaltonS]

It started as a tagline in a post, but as I considered it took on the dimensions of a real question. When the Pyramid #3/34: Alternate GURPS article "Alternate Spaceships" introduced the concept of Spaceships as Buildings (page 9) I wondered if putting heat producing systems in the basement levels would reduce their IR signature from outside. How would I determine and calculate this? (Remember sensor readings on a building would not serve the same purposes as those on a spaceship.)

Dalton “Well, is there a reactor down there or not?” Spence