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Building an Earthship utilizing the principles of Biotecture incorporates a mixture of biology and architecture which aims to design buildings and community environments with consideration for environmental sustainability rather than relying on traditional carbon heavy building designs and materials. The Earthship is a passive solar home which employs thermal/solar dynamics for temperature stabilization, incorporating renewable energy, food production, integrated water harvesting systems and in-house sewerage treatment.
The technology and practices of Earthships have been trialed and tested in a number of conditions and landscapes across the globe, with most of the successful units demonstrated in Taos, New Mexico by Earthship Biotecture.
Earthships can be built in any part of the world, in any climate and still provide electricity, potable water, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production.
1) Thermal/Solar Heating & Cooling Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. The planet Earth is a thermally stabilizing mass that delivers temperature without wire or pipes. The sun is a nuclear power plant that also delivers without wires or pipes.
2) Solar & Wind Electricity Earthships produce their own electricity with a prepackaged photovoltaic / wind power system. This energy is stored in batteries and supplied to your electrical outlets. Earthships can have multiple sources of power, all automated, including grid-intertie.
3) Contained Sewage Treatment Earthships contain use and reuse all household sewage in indoor and outdoor treatment cells resulting in food production and landscaping with no pollution of aquifers. Toilets flush with greywater that does not smell.
4) Building with Natural & Recycled Materials House as an assemblage of by-products: A sustainable home must make use of indigenous materials, those occurring naturally in the local area.
5) Water Harvesting Earthships catch water from the sky and use it four times. Water is heated from the sun, biodiesel and/or natural gas. Earthships can have city water as backup. Earthships do not pollute underground water aquifers.
6) Food Production Earthship wetlands, the planters that hold hundreds of gallons of water from sinks and the shower are a great place for raising some of the fresh produce you’d like to have in the winter, but find expensive or bland tasting from the supermarket.
Taken from www.earthship.com;
"The condition of our planet tells us we must now begin to take responsibility for what happens beyond the reach of our fingertips. We must begin to reconsider the source of these utilities, our access to them, and how we dispose of the waste produced. The mechanical systems of the Earthship confront these issues directly. We call this direct living. Source, access and destination are all contained within the Earthship, within the reach of our fingertips. There is no mystery involved in Earthship electricity. There is no unknown source of water. There is no magical black hole that sucks up all our sewage. Instead, we work in harmony with the earth to deal with these issues - taking what it has to give us directly and giving back what it wants to receive. With this harmony ringing in our minds we evolve the Earthship Systems."
The technology and practices of Earthships have been trialed and tested in a number of conditions and landscapes across the globe, with most of the successful units demonstrated in Taos, New Mexico by Earthship Biotecture.
Earthships can be built in any part of the world, in any climate and still provide electricity, potable water, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production.
1) Thermal/Solar Heating & Cooling Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. The planet Earth is a thermally stabilizing mass that delivers temperature without wire or pipes. The sun is a nuclear power plant that also delivers without wires or pipes.
2) Solar & Wind Electricity Earthships produce their own electricity with a prepackaged photovoltaic / wind power system. This energy is stored in batteries and supplied to your electrical outlets. Earthships can have multiple sources of power, all automated, including grid-intertie.
3) Contained Sewage Treatment Earthships contain use and reuse all household sewage in indoor and outdoor treatment cells resulting in food production and landscaping with no pollution of aquifers. Toilets flush with greywater that does not smell.
4) Building with Natural & Recycled Materials House as an assemblage of by-products: A sustainable home must make use of indigenous materials, those occurring naturally in the local area.
5) Water Harvesting Earthships catch water from the sky and use it four times. Water is heated from the sun, biodiesel and/or natural gas. Earthships can have city water as backup. Earthships do not pollute underground water aquifers.
6) Food Production Earthship wetlands, the planters that hold hundreds of gallons of water from sinks and the shower are a great place for raising some of the fresh produce you’d like to have in the winter, but find expensive or bland tasting from the supermarket.
Taken from www.earthship.com;
"The condition of our planet tells us we must now begin to take responsibility for what happens beyond the reach of our fingertips. We must begin to reconsider the source of these utilities, our access to them, and how we dispose of the waste produced. The mechanical systems of the Earthship confront these issues directly. We call this direct living. Source, access and destination are all contained within the Earthship, within the reach of our fingertips. There is no mystery involved in Earthship electricity. There is no unknown source of water. There is no magical black hole that sucks up all our sewage. Instead, we work in harmony with the earth to deal with these issues - taking what it has to give us directly and giving back what it wants to receive. With this harmony ringing in our minds we evolve the Earthship Systems."
A note on Natural Building
"A natural building involves a range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. Ways of achieving sustainability through natural building focus on durability and the use of minimally-processed, plentiful or renewable resources, as well as those which, while recycled or salvaged, produce healthy living environments and maintain indoor air quality. Natural building tends to rely on human labor, more than technology. As Michael G. Smith observes, it depends on "local ecology, geology and climate; on the character of the particular building site, and on the needs and personalities of the builders and users."
The basis of natural building is the need to lessen the environmental impact of buildings and other supporting systems, without sacrificing comfort, health or aesthetics. To be more sustainable, natural building uses primarily abundantly-available, renewable, reused or recycled materials. The use of rapidly renewable materials is increasingly a focus. In addition to relying on natural building materials, the emphasis on the architectural design is heightened. The orientation of a building, the utilization of local climate and site conditions, the emphasis on natural ventilation through design, fundamentally lessen operational costs and positively impact the environmental. Building compactly and minimizing the ecological footprint is common, as are on-site handling of energy acquisition, on-site water capture, alternate sewage treatment and water reuse. *taken from wikipedia
http://nbnetwork.org/home/ Natural Building Network
http://www.okokok.org/ home of earthbag building
http://www.sunraykelley.com/ Natural Builder
http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ Brad Lancaster, rainwater harvester
http://www.calearth.org/ earth bag houses, ceramic houses
http://www.oasisdesign.net/ Grey water recycling and reclamation, rainwater collection, cistern construction
http://www.kleiwerks.org/ Cob and earthen construction
http://www.theflyinghammer.com/ natural builders
http://www.housealive.org/ Cob and natural building
http://www.regenerativedesign.org/ permaculture, etc.
http://www.strawbalecentral.com/home.html Straw bale
http://www.thefarm.org/etc/ Permaculture, appropriate technology, natural building, ecovillage
http://www.carolecrews.com/ Natural Earthen Finishes
http://www.greenbuilder.com/ Natural building smorgasbord of information
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/ plethora of natural building info.
http://www.intabas.com/kikodenzer.html earthen art, cob ovens, earthen plasters
http://www.sustainablebuilding2007.ca/ sustainable building design and construction
http://www.barefootbuilder.com/ Cob
http://www.cstones.org/ Natural building restoration
http://www.sustainabledesigncenter.com/ Name says it all
http://www.josephjenkins.com/ Humanure, free book online
http://www.emeraldearth.org/ Natural Builders and Permaculturists
http://www.rainwatercollection.com/ Rainwater collection
http://www.bamboocraft.net/ Bamboo
http://www.thangmaker.com/ Frank Meyer, Natural Builder
http://www.earthenhand.com/ Scott Howard, Natural Builder
http://www.trctimberworks.com/ Timberframing, natural building
"A natural building involves a range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. Ways of achieving sustainability through natural building focus on durability and the use of minimally-processed, plentiful or renewable resources, as well as those which, while recycled or salvaged, produce healthy living environments and maintain indoor air quality. Natural building tends to rely on human labor, more than technology. As Michael G. Smith observes, it depends on "local ecology, geology and climate; on the character of the particular building site, and on the needs and personalities of the builders and users."
The basis of natural building is the need to lessen the environmental impact of buildings and other supporting systems, without sacrificing comfort, health or aesthetics. To be more sustainable, natural building uses primarily abundantly-available, renewable, reused or recycled materials. The use of rapidly renewable materials is increasingly a focus. In addition to relying on natural building materials, the emphasis on the architectural design is heightened. The orientation of a building, the utilization of local climate and site conditions, the emphasis on natural ventilation through design, fundamentally lessen operational costs and positively impact the environmental. Building compactly and minimizing the ecological footprint is common, as are on-site handling of energy acquisition, on-site water capture, alternate sewage treatment and water reuse. *taken from wikipedia
http://nbnetwork.org/home/ Natural Building Network
http://www.okokok.org/ home of earthbag building
http://www.sunraykelley.com/ Natural Builder
http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ Brad Lancaster, rainwater harvester
http://www.calearth.org/ earth bag houses, ceramic houses
http://www.oasisdesign.net/ Grey water recycling and reclamation, rainwater collection, cistern construction
http://www.kleiwerks.org/ Cob and earthen construction
http://www.theflyinghammer.com/ natural builders
http://www.housealive.org/ Cob and natural building
http://www.regenerativedesign.org/ permaculture, etc.
http://www.strawbalecentral.com/home.html Straw bale
http://www.thefarm.org/etc/ Permaculture, appropriate technology, natural building, ecovillage
http://www.carolecrews.com/ Natural Earthen Finishes
http://www.greenbuilder.com/ Natural building smorgasbord of information
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/ plethora of natural building info.
http://www.intabas.com/kikodenzer.html earthen art, cob ovens, earthen plasters
http://www.sustainablebuilding2007.ca/ sustainable building design and construction
http://www.barefootbuilder.com/ Cob
http://www.cstones.org/ Natural building restoration
http://www.sustainabledesigncenter.com/ Name says it all
http://www.josephjenkins.com/ Humanure, free book online
http://www.emeraldearth.org/ Natural Builders and Permaculturists
http://www.rainwatercollection.com/ Rainwater collection
http://www.bamboocraft.net/ Bamboo
http://www.thangmaker.com/ Frank Meyer, Natural Builder
http://www.earthenhand.com/ Scott Howard, Natural Builder
http://www.trctimberworks.com/ Timberframing, natural building