Earthships, the mother of all eco-homes

Don’t you just love ‘em. Pioneered in the 1990s by Mike Reynolds, an architect, in the barren deserts of New Mexico, they’re straight out of an eco-conscious Doctor Who. Reynolds first described them as "independent vessels to sail across the seas of tomorrow".  Now they are cropping up all over the place. Developers at Brighton Marina are expecting the go-ahead any day for a development of 16 earthships, the first of its kind in Europe.
Across the channel, an experienced Earthship crew, led by Jonah, who emailed me to let me know (thanks Jonah), will be starting construction of another cluster, in Normandy.
I wish Jonah would pop along to my backyard and start digging.
Oh, and most of excitingly, if you happen to be in New Mexico, you can rent Earthships, from $170.

(Click below to find out how an earthship works)

How an earthship works

* Built using local waste and recycled materials, such as glass bottles and car tyres.
* Must be constructed to be south-facing so it can harness the sun's energy for heating. Heat is then stored in the thick walls
* Zero-emission as it uses no fossil fuels for day-to-day running. Instead all its power and hot water is generated via wind turbines and solar panels
* Harvests rainwater, part of which is filtered to drinking quality standard; the rest is used as 'grey water' for showering and washing up
* Grey water is used to flush the toilet. Black water (that which includes human waste) is dealt with on-site in a reed-bed treatment system.

Comments

[Mike]

Too new-age-y for me. All that stuff happening in NEw Mexico is a bit off-putting. Rich Americans pretending they are saving the world. Yuk.

[Nev]

A bit closer to home, there's an earthship in Fife: http://www.sci-scotland.org.uk/

[neil]

I am a little confused - is it a design philosophy, an architectural template or an actual structure that someone sells?

[Anna Shepard]

Neil - it's a type of building that was first designed by Mike Reynolds almost fifteen years ago. Since then, others have taken the basic concept and made it their own. Essentially, all earthships are made of tyres and other waste materials that are filled with earth. The rest is mere detail.

[Gareth Kane]

Take a look around (apols for the music/voice over)...

http://eco-living.blogspot.com/2006/11/earthships-vid.html

[Gareth Kane]

And have a look at the Brighton Earthship:

http://eco-living.blogspot.com/2006/11/earthship-ahoy.html

Gareth
http://www.terrainfirma.co.uk

[D Cage]

While I believe in conserving energy as fossil fuels are a finite resource I believe that Man made Global Warming is a fraud.
Financial and political interests have distorted the direction of research so the case for it can only be positive. None of the essential data collection needed to disprove it has or is being done.
How can I resove my beliefs that we should conserve fuel with my desire not to follow blindly a dishonest cause?

[oyun]

http://www.oyunara.net http://www.oyunim.com http://www.oyunulkesi.net
http://www.bizimmekan.com

thank you