New build:Earthship
From Sustainable Building Resource
[edit] Earthship
Most people consider Earthships to be buildings made of old tyres, others with more knowledge consider them to be solar buildings made of recycled materials. Earthships are much more, they are an attempt at making a totally sustainable home from by products of our society. “The Earthship concept is an effort to slowly evolve humanity toward a method of life that continuously improves life. This involves changing building methods, changing utility methods, changing living methods, and ultimately changing our thinking and understanding.” Michael Reynolds (Creater of the Earthship design, who began building Earthships around 40 years ago in New mexico)
An Earthship is a type of passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials. The homes are primarily constructed to work autonomously and are generally made of earth-filled tyres, utilising thermal mass construction to naturally regulate indoor temperature. Earthships are generally Off-the-grid homes, minimizing their reliance on public utilities and fossil fuels. The structure is made form tyres stacked on top of each other and packed with earth, like huge bricks, creating a series of U-shaped rooms. The curving walls are covered with earth plaster or stucco which hides any evidence of the tyres and makes the structures resemble those of an adobe home. The front face of many Earthships consists of sloping glass that gathers up sun to heat the house. Typically earth sheltered and equipped with photovoltaics to generate electricity and hat water, the Earthship has a unique roof design that collects water from rain and melting snow. This water is stored in large cisterns, then purified in a series of filters supplying the occupant with all their domestic water needs.
As shown here the Earthship consists of two main parts; the U-shaped living spaces or Earthship rooms, and the environmental interface corridor. The earthship rooms can be separated by plaster covered tyre walls or other recycled materials. The Earthship Volumes are aimed at making this concept physically available to owner builders. If the methods put forth in these books are followed, the result is a very “substantial living module.” However, if the concept is used but not executed competently with appropriate respect for and understanding the nature of the material, an unsafe building can be the result
[edit] Help building your own Earthship
If you would like a practical guide to tyre ramming please click here.
Contact the Eco Home Centre in Cardiff for current courses.
If you want to see an earthship in the flesh there is one in brighton. For more information look at brighton earthship-low carbon website
