Earthships

[yiolas]

Earthships are self sufficient homes built out of natural and recycled materials often using tires ,aluminum cans and dirt. They are oriented to take advantage of passive solar radiation to heating and cooling. The homes are designed to take advantage of natural resources. Rainwater is also stored in cisterns and gray water is recycled.

It's a very interesting concept for someone who has plot of land in the wilderness.

Have look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ozX_nt5A4o

[Fredkc]

Michael Reynolds is worthy of a Nobel prize for this work, I think.

Earthships (http://earthship.com/) are an amazing achievement in themselves.

But when you look at the post-disaster volunteer work he and friends have done in Indonesia, and Haiti...

I gave my daughter and her husband Earthship Books I & II for Christmas last year.

If you want to see a pictorial tour of someone's home, built using this design, there's one here (http://www.earthpower1.com/EarthshipIndex.html).

http://www.earthpower1.com/hallway2clean.JPG


What an interesting interview the man would make, I think.

Fred

[yiolas]

"Self Sufficiency = Freedom" A quote from The Antimatter Radio Show by Jeffrey Grupp

Jeffrey Grupp show motto is "The show about everything" Jeff has a daily radio show where he talks about everything from spirituality,Illuminati, Nephylum, Parapsychology,Conspiracy, self sufficiency and more.
Listen to his program on 24/03/2010 where he interviews: Michael Reynolds of Earthship.net
( Self sufficient homes and the basic concept of being self sufficient) very interesting
http://antimatterradio.com/

[Jondalar]

"Garbage Warrior" was a major inspiration for me, with the added bonus of being full of humour and insight on how to deal with local bureaucrats. Since watching the film i've developed a habit of salvaging glass panels (especially sliding glass doors), maybe a bit obsessively... but will put it to good use before long. Plans for a greenhouse/bathhouse/sauna are in the works.

[Fredkc]

"Garbage Warrior" was a major inspiration for me,
Welcome Jondalar;
It was for me two. In fact I purchased the first two book on construction and gave them to my daughter and husband, for xmas last year.
Fred

[TWINNICK]

"Garbage Warrior" was a major inspiration for me, with the added bonus of being full of humour and insight on how to deal with local bureaucrats. Since watching the film i've developed a habit of salvaging glass panels (especially sliding glass doors), maybe a bit obsessively... but will put it to good use before long. Plans for a greenhouse/bathhouse/sauna are in the works.


Haven't seen this but I recon you could make a really good solar hot water heater with those glass panels, sandwich black poly pipe between them or under one of them and pump water slowly through the hose and let the sun do the rest.

My nephew laid black poly pipe in a zigzag pattern all over his shed roof from the garden tap so he could set up a sink out there instead of completely getting his ass kicked by the missus when he cacked up the bathroom in the house LOL.

He would be covered in oil and grease from working on the go cart or cars and need to have a good scrub, it worked so well he told me he burned himself plenty of times LOL.

He had to run a separate hose from the garden tap into the sink for hot and cold water faucets.

.Nick..

[Bill Ryan]

--------

Kerry and I stayed in one a couple of years ago in Taos, NM. The overnight temperature fell to -5'F (-21'C). We used no additional heating. We were as warm as toast.

[9eagle9]

They are very pretty too, graceful looking. Certainly more unique in design and ambiance than what comes off the builder boards these days. Especially compared to mass produced stick built homes we see all over that appear to be some form of instant urban blight.

[Gajanana]

excellent! I have access to a very remote wooded area owned by a trusted friend. hope to build a shelter of some kind this year. This looks very interesting, the main problem is transporting materials as access is limited - We'll find a way though... thanks for the links.

[Lettherebelight]

This information is quoted from Simon's website...enjoy!

http://www.simondale.net/house


http://www.simondale.net/house/images2/front.jpg


http://www.simondale.net/house/images2/wide.jpg


http://www.simondale.net/house/images2/flowers.jpg


http://www.simondale.net/house/images2/candle.jpg


http://www.simondale.net/house/images2/kitchen.jpg


You are looking at pictures of a house I built for our family in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour). The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.

Some key points of the design and construction:


Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
Water by gravity from nearby spring
Compost toilet
Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around in between. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.

This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives. For example this house was made to house our family whilst we worked in the woodland surrounding the house doing ecological woodland management and setting up a forest garden, things that would have been impossible had we had to pay a regular rent or mortgage. To read more about why we did it and why this is an important option to meet the challenges of climate change and peak oil, click here (http://www.simondale.net/house/why.htm).

Would you like to learn more about this sort of building and gain practical experience? Why not join us on another exciting building project. There will be opportunities for everyone of all abilities and areas of interest.

Click here for more details. (http://www.simondale.net/house/involve.htm)
http://www.simondale.net/house/http://http://www.simondale.net/house/

[Gone001]

This makes me think of Luke Skywalker's house on Tatooine lol.

[TWINNICK]

Those look like bottles inbeded into the walls of that first pictured house, reminds me of a bloke in the outback somewhere how built a house of totally whatever he could find.
The walls had so many bottles and bits of coloured glass in them with tyres and wooden crates and all sorts of things put into the concrete that the place was so insulated from the heat and cold of the desert because of all the air trapped in the bottles it was a confusing ramshakle feat of brilliance.

All the coloured glass lit the building up like a beautiful cathedral and the crates and tyres were used as practical things like shelving and storage, it was amazing to see what he had done, and he was always adding something new to the house like another room or sculpture or celler (basement).

..Nick..

[Lancelot]

I heard about an earthship in the desert which had its own eco- air con. Hot desert wind blew into a long underground tunnel lined with old car tyres. The tyres cooled the air as it passed through and into the living space! In cold climates, the tyres are used to build a wall facing the sun through a glass wall. During the day the tyres absorb the heat of the sun then at night, slowly emit the heat back out into the living space. Genius.

[christian]

I love the Earthships, maybe I'll build one myself one fine day.

Consider that as they are made of a lot of "artificial" ingredients, they fall apart in case of shifting to 4th dimension, that's what Drunvalo says...

[Autumn]

Gajanana, how interesting ... where is that? And if you need a brainstorming partner, seeing we're so close geographically, just PM me. I love projects like this and me and my family have designed an earthship. We're just more of the mentality that if one builds in the woods one only uses what the woods can provide - no mess of non decomposable material.

[Dennis Jonathan]

I love this idea.

If man has created materials that will never decompose, or will take thousands of years to, why not recycle them into shelter? Makes total sense. Its either, burn a sea of used tires and kill the planet, or make use of them.

The only downside I see is the cost involved. I understand the math, long term savings etc., but at a glance, a home to fit my family is just impossible to afford for me. I wouldnt mind building one, but I have no experience with any professional construction.

$1.5 million dollars for a 3 bedroom seems really costly to me.

[juliagulia55]

The more I see these Earthships, the stronger my desire is to build one...:high5:

[Davidallany]

Everything is owned by the government, there is no free land, one must buy the land first, then there is tax on the land after that.

[siggy]

The more I see these Earthships, the stronger my desire is to build one...:high5:

The tyre filling is hard work. After doing a little as a volunteer I started to think more and more about timber frame / straw bale housing :)

[Mike Gorman]

Fantastic job, I'll be really hackneyed and say it reminds me of a Hobbit house..cause it does-love it.
Tell me if you do not mind, how did you acquire the land-was it expensive?
Cheers

[Lion Monkey]

ARG! Just spent 2.5 hrs writing a mega post and then I hit the "quick reply" button again instead of the "post quick reply" and erased the form!
SOB.

Just goes to show that it pays to keep forum posts brief (he says about to launch into another huge one...)

Here is the gist of what I said:

I studied eco architecture with someone involved in building the first earthship in the UK and he said that with the benefit of hindsight he wouldn't recommend them to anyone else for northern europe. Mainly because the high thermal mass of the concrete and the lack of breathable walls makes them cold and clammy in the long damp and dark UK winters. Unexpectedly high heating costs. Earthships work great in desert climates with cold but clear, dry and sunny winters.

I have pounded rammed earth car tyres for use in foundations and it is bone-jarring, horrible, exhausting work. Fine if you are a musclewoman or man, but if like me you are more elf-like (think Annunaki without the technology or psy abilities) then it progress is slow, exhausting and demoralizing.

When I started learning about ecobuilding I too thought that earthships looked amazing - someone else has mentioned luke skywalker's house. But when you learn about the other options available you realise that they are not a magic bullet solution for the whole planet. The work of Mike Reynolds et al should be celebrated and encouraged, but not idolised and unthinkingly repeated all over the planet.

All the cool energy autonomy features can be easily repeated in other building types, and we have been doing rainwater harvesting, compost toilets, greywater treatment, solar thermal, PV electric and greenhouse passive solar design and indoor planters on all sorts of structures in permaculture projects for over 30 years.

On the whole, having studied and experimented with a range of ecobuilding options including cob, adobe, cordwood, earthbag, timber and bamboo frame, hemplime and strawbale, I think that for Europe and the US (and any other none-tropical country where they grow a lot of grain crops) the best performer over a balanced range of criteria is straw bale: the criteria being cost, effort/time, internal air quality, environmental impact, energy efficiency and insulation/ thermal comfort (including summer cooling).

Strawbale gives you a much better bang for your buck and is easier to build - kids, old people, women and men can all get involved in the build and this gives the project a much less macho vibe and makes it more cooperative and supportive. Essentially you have a super-insulated envelope surrounding your thermal mass (the internal earth or lime plaster and the floor) which protects from external temp changes and allows you to maintain the internal temperature with little energy - imagine a brick inside 50 pairs of wool socks. Maintains the temperate very well, whether the brick has just come out of the oven or the freezer. An earthship is a lot more brick and a lot less sock.

A colleague did some research showing that in 2008 in the UK we produced enough straw surplus to other requirements to build 450,000 strawbale houses a year, and we can build them loadbearing style now without the need for a timber frame.

Whether we are predisposed towards strawbale or earthships, our starting point should be the characteristics of our site, our climate, our local available resources (material and human) and the functions we need from the building and how it will integrate with our other activities (e.g. food growing). This permaculture approach to building, as hinted at by others on this thread, is the best way to design the right sort of building for you, rather than imposing a preconceived idea onto the land (and your people), regardless.

This can save us a lot of unnecessary time, effort, cost and disappointment.

Personally I favor a house made from earth and plants, with appropriate use of recycled materials and judicious and minimal use of brand new manufactured materials such as metal, glass, cement, lime and plastic. Nicest vibe, least environmental impact and healthiest.

There are many wonderful examples of hybrid methods being used, with a little bit of several different techniques being used.

I have masses of info and links on regional and climate specific ecobuilding strategies if anyone wants them. Here are a few for now:

Good organisations:

http://www.amazonails.org.uk/
http://www.thelaststraw.org/
http://www.strawbalehomes.com/
If you liked luke skywalker's house:
http://calearth.org/

Principles of passive solar explained
http://strawbalefarms.com/passive.html


First UK straw bale council houses
http://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/section.asp?catId=1522

Strawbale aid work in post earthquake and flood Pakistan
http://www.paksbab.org/html/index.php?id=4


My recommended desert island ecobuilding book
http://www.shelterpub.com/_barefoot/BA-book.html

Lots of love!

[KosmicKat]

Thinking about this can anybody suggest a site which helps in choosing a model to build and how to adapt it to make best use of available resources? For example, if you live in a desert-type environment, very dry, lots of sunshine: the earthship model is your best starting point. Living in an area rich in arable agriculture, and straw is plentiful: start with the straw bale model.

[Mark]

I studied eco architecture with someone involved in building the first earthship in the UK and he said that with the benefit of hindsight he wouldn't recommend them to anyone else for northern europe. Mainly because the high thermal mass of the concrete and the lack of breathable walls makes them cold and clammy in the long damp and dark UK winters. Unexpectedly high heating costs. Earthships work great in desert climates with cold but clear, dry and sunny winters.

Thanks for all those great resources, like many others here I've been looking into earthships for a while too and garbage warrior was quite a revelation for off-the-grid potentialities. I have read elsewhere on the Net about the problems with building earthships anyplace but semi-arid to arid sub-tropical climes, so thank you for your practical experience and corroboration of the difficulties and also for the suggestions!

[Cjay]

Meka's Cobb House - Wolf Creek, Oregon


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLf8J7k69j0
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLf8J7k69j0

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/cob0510.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/cob0520.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/cob0420.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/cob0450.jpg

Lots more photos, videos and info about Cobb building can be found on this site:
http://www.cobprojects.info/Projects/meka/meka.htm

[Cjay]

More Building with Cob


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCIdCCyTFaY
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCIdCCyTFaY


Earth is probably still the world's most common building material. Cob building is the art of building homes using earth materials. Usually when I tell someone about cob for the first time, they think 'corn cobs.' That's not what it's really about. The word 'cob' comes from an old English word that means 'a rounded lump or mass.' We get our modern word 'gob' from the same root word. Cob is basically a mixture of straw, sand and clay. Once the walls are built (by stacking the cob balls or lumps to build walls) they are covered with plaster to seal them. There are no forms, brick shapes or frames. Since cob is basically the same consistency as modeling clay, it lends itself to organic shapes that are more curved and natural. Cob can also be used to build sculpture, garden walls and outdoor ovens.

Cob is literally 'dirt cheap' since it is made from materials readily found in nature. It can also be sculpted to provide beautiful artistic touches to your home, as these pictures illustrate. Not only that, but it's so easy a child could do it. Ever make mud pies when you were a kid? Then you've already got most of the basic skills to build with cob! In fact, as a child growing up on the farm back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I built play forts with cob before I even knew what it was called. Cob is almost instinctive.

Cob has been around for thousands of years. Some of the earliest structures on Earth, in the Mesopotamian region, were made of a type of cob. There are cob homes in Western Europe that have been continuously occupied for centuries. With a little regular maintenance, a cob home is extremely durable.

Cob is also non-toxic. It is made from natural materials that contain no toxins. Cob doesn't require any products that don't come directly from the Earth. This ancient way of building also doesn't contribute to deforestation, mining or pollution. Since it is a natural form of building, it does not rely on manufactured materials. Since it is made using materials on the building site, it doesn't use fossil fuels transporting materials to the site.

One drawback of working with cob is that many building inspectors are unfamiliar with the material. Cob is not covered by most building codes; however, adobe is covered in many. If you can convince your local building inspector that cob is a modified form of adobe, you may have better luck in getting your project approved. Another drawback is with insurance companies. Most won't insure cob because they have no experience with the material. There's some tradeoff in this department. You might not be able to get the building insured, but since cob is so durable and cheap, in the unlikely event that a disaster occurs and damages your building, it can be rebuilt for about the same amount of money that you would have spent on insurance premiums. If this is really a concern for you, consider the fact that cob itself is fireproof and extremely durable. For a story of about how her first cob studio survived a hurricane, visit Christina Ott's Barefoot Builder (http://www.barefootbuilder.com/) website.

If you are having problems with the local building inspector, this can usually be worked around by finding an architect or an engineer who has experience working with cob. If you can get an architect to sign off on your project, most building inspectors will work with you. I'm starting a list of architects and engineers who work with natural materials. If you are such an architect, or you can recommend one, please email me (mailto:info@cultureartist.org) and I'll add their name to the list.
Source (this is a HUGE resource): http://www.cultureartist.org/cob__what_is_it.htm

More than 100 videos about natural building: http://www.cultureartist.org/videos_of_interest.htm

Natural Building Gallery (hundreds of photos of many different natural building techniques including Adobe, Cob, Earth Ships, Rammed Earth, Stone, Straw Bale and many more):
http://www.cultureartist.org/natural_building_gallery.htm
http://www.cultureartist.org/Natural_Building_Gallery/images.Natural_Building_Gallery/Natural_Building_LOGO%20copy.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/Bcob3.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/andrecob.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/Bhousing_cob2.jpg

http://www.cultureartist.org/Cob_Gallery/images.cob_gallery/Cob86.jpg


Because of its versatility and widespread availability, earth has been used as a construction material on every continent and in every age. It is one of the oldest building materials on the planet; the first freestanding human dwellings may have been built of sod or wattle-and-daub. About 10,000 years ago, the residents of Jericho were using oval, hand formed, sun dried bricks (adobes), which were probably a refinement of earlier cob. Even today, it is estimated that between a third and a half of the world's population lives in earthen dwellings.
Source: http://www.networkearth.org/naturalbuilding/history.html


This site is a huge resource: http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/cob.htm

[Cjay]

This is really cool - and hot, at the same time - a pizza oven and hot tub all made from cob. Cob can easily be made water proof using linseed oil (and other natural methods).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtP_hToQtkQ
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtP_hToQtkQ



More examples of cob ovens and cob building


http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=f-BESihv4r8#!
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=f-BESihv4r8#!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1kzP2QHpg
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1kzP2QHpg

http://www.livingearthstructures.com



Butterfly Social Club, Chicago

http://rivertown.blogs.petaluma360.com/files/2010/05/interBFClub_full1.jpg

http://s3.hubimg.com/u/2005922_f520.jpg

http://s4.hubimg.com/u/2005919_f496.jpg


A heated bench seat

http://s1.hubimg.com/u/2006028_f496.jpg