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An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect
Michael Reynolds Mick, Mike or Michael Reynolds may refer to: Actors *Mike Reynolds (actor) (1929–2022), American voice actor and writer *Michael Reynolds, British actor in one episode of BBC's ''David Copperfield'' (1966) and ''The First Churchills'' (1969) * Mi ...
. Earthships are designed to behave as
passive solar In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...
earth shelter An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth bermed house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls, on the roof, or that is entirely buried underground. Earth acts as thermal mass, makin ...
s made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed
tires A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
. Earthships may feature a variety of amenities and aesthetics, and are designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of a desert, managing to stay close to 70 °F (21 °C) regardless of outside weather conditions. Earthship communities were originally built in the desert of northern
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, near the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
, and the style has spread to small pockets of communities around the globe, in some cases in spite of legal opposition to its construction and adoption. Reynolds developed the Earthship design after moving to New Mexico and completing his degree in architecture, intending them to be "
off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...
-ready" homes, with minimal reliance on
public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...
and
fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...
. They are constructed to use available natural resources, especially energy from the sun and rain water. They are designed with
thermal mass In building design, thermal mass is a property of the mass of a building that enables it to store heat and provide inertia against temperature fluctuations. It is sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect. The thermal mass of heavy structura ...
construction and natural cross-ventilation to regulate indoor temperature, and the designs are intentionally uncomplicated and mainly single-story, so that people with little building knowledge can construct them. They can be perceived as a realization of the
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
of autonomous housing and sustainable living.


History

Earthship architecture began development in the 1970s, when the architect
Michael Reynolds Mick, Mike or Michael Reynolds may refer to: Actors *Mike Reynolds (actor) (1929–2022), American voice actor and writer *Michael Reynolds, British actor in one episode of BBC's ''David Copperfield'' (1966) and ''The First Churchills'' (1969) * Mi ...
set out to create a home that would fulfill three criteria. First, it would utilize
sustainable architecture Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable ...
, and materials indigenous to the local area or
recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
materials wherever possible. Second, it would rely on natural energy sources and be independent from the electrical grid. Third, it would be feasible for a person with no specialized construction skills to build. Eventually, Reynolds's vision was transformed into the common U-shaped earth-filled tire homes seen today. The name is based on the idea of a ship or a space ship, in order to allude to the home's ability to provide everything for their inhabitants to survive: shelter, power, waste management, water, and food.


Construction and design

Earthships are predicated upon the idea that there are six human needs which can be addressed through environmentally sustainable building design: #Energy: Thermal and/or solar heating and cooling, solar and wind electricity #Garbage management: Reuse and recycling built into construction and daily living #Sewage treatment: Self-contained sewage treatment and water recycling #Shelter: Building with natural and recycled materials #Clean Water: Water harvesting and long term storage #Food: In-home organic food production capability The buildings are often horseshoe-shaped due to the difficulty of creating sharp 90 degree angles with rammed tires. In Reynolds's prototype at
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
, the opening of the horseshoe faces 10–15 degrees east of south to maximize natural light and solar-gain during the winter months, with windows on sun-facing walls admitting light and heat. The book, ''Earthship I'', describes how to find the best angle depending on the building's geographic location. The thick and dense walls provide thermal mass that naturally regulates the interior temperature during both cold and hot outside temperatures. The outer walls in the majority of Earthships are made of earth-rammed tires, but any dense material with a potential to store heat, such as
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
,
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
, earth bags, or stone, could in principle be used to create a building similar to an Earthship. The tire walls are staggered like traditional brick work, and often have "concrete half blocks" every other course, to equal the length of the staggered tire below. In an effort to cut down the use of concrete even further, they also use "squishies" - tires rammed in between a tight space to even out the course or to compensate for varying tire size. The
rammed earth Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method. ...
tires of an Earthship are assembled by teams of two people. One person shovels dirt and places it into the tire one scoop at a time. The other person, who stands on the tire, uses a sledgehammer to pack the dirt in while moving in a circle around the tire to keep the dirt even and to avoid warping the tire. Rammed earth tires can weigh up to , so they are typically filled in place. Because the tire is full of soil, it does not burn when exposed to fire. In colder climates, extra insulation is added on the outside of the tire walls. On top of the tire walls are either "can and concrete bond beams" made of recycled cans joined by concrete, or wooden bond beams with wooden shoes. These are attached to the tire walls using concrete anchors, poured blocks of concrete inside the top tires. Wooden shimming blocks placed on top of the wooden bond beam make up the wooden shoes. The wooden bond beam consists of two layers of lumber bolted on to the concrete anchors. Re-bar is used to "nail" the wooden shoes to the wooden bond beam. Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a
honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic Beeswax, wax cells built by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. beekeeping, Beekee ...
of recycled cans joined by concrete; these are nicknamed
tin can wall A tin can wall is a wall constructed from tin cans, which are not a common building source. The cans can be laid in concrete, stacked vertically on top of each other, and crushed or cut and flattened to be used as shingles. They can also be us ...
s. These walls are usually thickly plastered with
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
, and resemble traditional adobe walls when finished. The roof is made using trusses, or wooden support beams called
vigas This is a list of characters associated with the character The Punisher. Family Tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Frank Castle Jr. Francis "Frank" Castle Jr. is the son of The Punisher (Frank Castle) in Marvel Comics. Th ...
, that rest on the wooden shoes or the tin can walls placed on the bond beams. The roof as well as the north, east and west facing walls are heavily insulated to reduce heat loss. The average cost in 2019 including labour and land is about $500,000.


Water

Earthships are designed to catch all the water they need from the local environment. Water used in an Earthship is harvested from rain, snow, and condensation. As water collects on the roof, it is channeled through a silt-catching device and into a cistern. The cisterns are positioned to gravity-feed a water organization module (WOM) that filters out bacteria and contaminants, making it suitable for drinking. The WOM consists of filters and a DC-pump. Water is then pushed into a conventional pressure tank to create common household water pressure. Water collected in this fashion is used for every household activity except flushing toilets. The toilets are flushed with
greywater Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from ...
which has been used at least once already. Typically it is filtered waste-water from sinks and showers.
Greywater Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from ...
, recycled water unsuitable for drinking, is used within the Earthship primarily for flushing toilets. Before the greywater can be reused, it is channeled through a grease and particle filter/digester and into a deep rubber-lined botanical cell, a miniature
living machine Living Machine is a form of ecological sewage treatment. Similar to Solar Aquatics Systems, the latest generation of the technology is based on fixed-film ecology. The Living Machine system was commercialized and is marketed by Living Machine Sy ...
, within the Earthship. Here the water is oxygenated and
filtered Filtration is a physical separation process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture using a ''filter medium'' that has a complex structure through which only the fluid can pass. Solid particles that cannot pass through the filter m ...
using bacteria and plants to reduce the nutrient load. Water from the low end of the botanical cell is directed through a
peat moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
filter and collected in a reservoir or well. The
reclaimed water Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produce ...
is passed once more through a greywater board and used to flush conventional toilets. Black water is water that has been used in a toilet. Earthships utilize
anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the ferm ...
in their
septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatme ...
s, which naturally separate solid waste. The black water is used in concrete cells containing plants, separate from the grey water plants in the
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
; it may also be used in exterior planters. Studies on the safety of growing food plants in a black water system show low levels of ''
E. coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...
'' bacteria. It is not recommended to plant edibles in black water; building permits may be refused for plans indicating such usage of black water. Where it is not possible to use flush-toilets operating on water, dry solar toilets are recommended.


Power

Earthships are designed to collect and store their own energy. The majority of electrical energy is harvested from the sun and wind.
Photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...
panels and
wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
s on or near the Earthship generate DC electricity that is stored in deep-cycle batteries. The batteries are housed in a purpose-built room on the roof. Additional energy can be obtained from gasoline-powered generators or by integrating with the city grid. For Canadian winters the solar cell exposed surface areas needs to be increased by over three times. In an Earthship, a Power Organizing Module (POM) takes a proportion of stored energy from batteries and invert it for AC use. The Power Organizing Module is a prefabricated system provided by Earthship Biotecture that is simply attached to a wall on the interior of the Earthship and wired in a conventional manner. It includes the necessary equipment such as
circuit breakers A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by an overcurrent or short circuit. Its basic function is to interrupt current flow to protect equipment and to prevent the risk ...
and converters. The energy run through the Power Organizing Module can be used to run any household appliance including washing machines, computers, kitchen appliances, print machines, and vacuums. Ideally, none of the electrical energy in an Earthship is used for heating or cooling.


Thermal performance

Earthships rely on a balance between the solar heat gain and the ability of the tire walls and subsoil to transport and store heat. They are designed to use the properties of thermal mass and with the intent that the exterior earth-rammed tire walls provide
thermal mass In building design, thermal mass is a property of the mass of a building that enables it to store heat and provide inertia against temperature fluctuations. It is sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect. The thermal mass of heavy structura ...
that will soak up heat during the day and radiate heat during the night, keeping the interior climate relatively comfortable all day. In addition to the exterior tire walls, some Earthships are sunk into the earth to take advantage of earth-sheltering to reduce temperature fluctuations. Some earthship structures have suffered from heat loss into the ground during the heating season. This may be due to climatic differences between
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
where earthships were first built and cloudier, cooler, and wetter climates. Thermal performance problems may also have occurred due to
thermal mass In building design, thermal mass is a property of the mass of a building that enables it to store heat and provide inertia against temperature fluctuations. It is sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect. The thermal mass of heavy structura ...
being erroneously equated to R-value. The imperial R-value of soil is about 1 per foot.
Malcolm Wells Malcolm Wells (March 11, 1926 – November 27, 2009) was an American architect who is regarded as "the father of modern earth-sheltered architecture." Wells lived on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in a modern earth-sheltered building of his own design. ...
, an architect and authority on earth-sheltered design, recommends an imperial R-value 10 insulation between deep soils and heated spaces. Wells's insulation recommendations increase as the depth of the soil decreases (a negative correlation). In addition to thermal mass, Earthships use passive solar heating and cooling. Large front windows with integrated shades,
trombe wall A Trombe wall is a massive equator-facing wall that is painted a dark color in order to absorb thermal energy from incident sunlight and covered with a glass on the outside with an insulating air-gap between the wall and the glaze. A Trombe wall is ...
s and other technologies such as
skylights A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...
or
Steve Baer Steve Baer (born 1938) is an American inventor and pioneer of passive solar technology. Baer helped popularize the use of zomes. He took a number of solar power patents, wrote a number of books and publicized his work. Baer served on the board ...
's "Track Rack" solar trackers are used for heat regulation. Earthships are positioned so that its principal wall, which is nonstructural and made mostly of glass sheets, faces directly towards the equator. This positioning allows for optimum solar exposure. To allow the sun to heat the mass of the Earthship, the solar-oriented wall is angled so that it is perpendicular to light from the winter sun. This allows for maximum exposure in the winter, when heat is wanted, and lesser exposure in the summer, when heat is to be avoided. Some Earthships, especially those built in colder climates, use insulated shading on the solar-orientated wall to reduce heat loss during the night. Current Earthship designs like the global module have a "double greenhouse" where the outside glass is angled towards the equator, and an internal glass wall forms a walk way or hallway as you step into the Earthship. This greenhouse is primarily used to grow food; it also creates a barrier for the 'comfort zone' inside the house.


Ventilation

Earthships structures have a
natural ventilation Passive ventilation is the process of supplying air to and removing air from an indoor space without using HVAC, mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure differences arising from natural ...
system based on
convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
. A pipe extends from the interior of the house under the berm, cooling the air by the time it gets to the comfort zone. As the hot air rises, the system creates a steady airflow - of cooler air coming in, and warmer air blowing out though a smaller vented window in the greenhouse.


Around the world


Africa

The first earthship in South Africa was built by Angel and Yvonne Kamp between 1996 and 1998. They rammed a total of 1,500 tires for the walls. The Earthship, near
Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service
, is located in a 60 hectare private nature reserve which is part of a 500 hectare area enclosed in a game fence and borders the
Walker Bay Walker Bay is a large bay located in the south-western Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the next major bay between False Bay near Cape Town and Cape Agulhas to the south-east. The bay is famous for having some of the best land based w ...
Nature Reserve. The second earthship in South Africa is a recycling centre in Khayelitsha run as a swop shop concept. The centre was finished in December 2010. Another low cost house built with tires is in development in
Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...
. A project nearing completion in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
is a combined living quarters and the Sonskip / Aardskip open air museum in
Orania Orania () is an Afrikaner separatist town founded by Afrikaners in South Africa. It is located along the Orange River in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape province. The town is split in two halves by the R369 road, and is from Cape Tow ...
. This earthship is based on the global earthship model and is built with a foundation of tires, has roof bearing walls built with earthbags, and interior walls built with cob, cans and plastic bottles. This earthship adheres to all six principles of an earthship. This is the largest earthbag earthship in the world. A residential house was in the planning phase for Swaziland (now
Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
in 2013. In 2011, construction began on the Goderich
Waldorf School Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skil ...
of
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. The school was the first educational institution to use earthship architecture. Although Mike Reynolds and a team of interns helped complete the first two classrooms, the majority of the building was built by community members who had been trained in Reynolds' building techniques. A new project was scheduled to commence in
Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
in October 2013.During that first visit, the team was able to complete two of the intended 8 rooms. Biotechure Planet Earth came back to collaborate on the Malawi project in 2015 in order to complete the community center for the rural village. The crew was made up of a group of volunteers as well as locals all made up to create an 8 room building made out of tires, cans and bottles. Finally, in a webpost uploaed on February 2020, it was confirmed that the community structure in Kapita, Malawi was able to be finished.


Australia

Earthship Ironbank
was built by Martin and Zoe Freney south-east of Adelaide in South Australia and is the first earthship constructed with council permission in Australia.


Europe

In 2000,
Michael Reynolds Mick, Mike or Michael Reynolds may refer to: Actors *Mike Reynolds (actor) (1929–2022), American voice actor and writer *Michael Reynolds, British actor in one episode of BBC's ''David Copperfield'' (1966) and ''The First Churchills'' (1969) * Mi ...
and his team came to build the first residential earthship in Boingt (Belgium). While water, power module, solar panels and the team were on their way to Europe, the mayor of Boingt put his veto on the building permit. Josephine Overeem, the woman who wanted to build the earthship, and Michael Reynolds decided to do a demonstration model in her back yard at her residence in Strombeek (Belgium). CLEVEL invited Reynolds from Belgium to Brighton in the UK, and orchestrated plans for the earthship in Brighton, started in 2003. This was the beginning of a series of trips made by Reynolds and the construction of earthships in the UK, France and the Netherlands. In 2004, the very first Earthship in the UK was opened at
Kinghorn Kinghorn (; gd, Ceann Gronna) is a town and parish in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, opposite Edinburgh. According ...
Loch in Fife, Scotland. It was built by volunteers of the SCI charity. In 2005, the first earthship in England was established in
Stanmer Park Stanmer Park is a large public park immediately to the west of the University of Sussex, and to the north-east of the city of Brighton in the county of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom, UK. It is a Local Nature Reserve and English Heritage, un ...
,
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
with the Low Carbon Trust. In 2007, CLEVEL and Earthship Biotecture obtained planning permission to build on a development site overlooking the
Brighton Marina Brighton Marina is an artificial marina situated in Brighton, England. It features a working harbour and residential housing alongside a variety of leisure, retail and commercial activities. The construction of the marina itself took place betw ...
in the UK. The application followed a six-month feasibility study, orchestrated by Daren Howarth, Kevan Trott and Michael Reynolds and funded by the UK Environment Agency and the Energy Savings Trust. The successful application was for sixteen one, two, and three-bedroom earthship homes on this site, expected to have a sale price of 250 - 400,000 pounds. The homes are all designed according to basic earthship principles developed in the United States and adapted to the UK. 15,000 tires will be recycled to construct these homes (the UK burns approximately 40 million tires each year). The plans include the enhancement of habitats on the site for
lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s that already live there, which is the reasoning behind entitling the project "The Lizard". This would have been the first development of its kind in Europe. The first official Earthship home in mainland Europe with official planning permission approval was built in a small French village called Ger. The home, which was owned by Kevan and Gillian Trott, was built in April 2007 by Kevan, Mike Reynolds and an Earthship Crew from Taos, it was sold to a family in 2014. The design was modified for a European climate and is seen as the first of many for the European arena. It is currently used as a holiday home for eco-tourists. Further adaptation to the European context was undertaken by Daren Howarth and Adrianne Nortje in
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, France. They obtained full planning permission in 2007 and finished the Brittany Groundhouse as their own home during 2009. The build experience and learning is documented in the UK
Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series produced by Boundless and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects. The programme has been presented by Kevin McCloud since it first ...
series and in their book. Earthships have been built or are being built in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Czech Republic. The first official earthship district (23 earthships) in Europe was developed in
Olst Olst is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel, about 8 km north of Deventer. It is located in the municipality of Olst-Wijhe. History The village was first mentioned in 947 Holsto. The etymology is unknown. Olst is an ''esdorp'' which ...
(the Netherlands). Building started in Spring 2012 and completed in December, 2014. In Belgium, 1 earthship hybrid is also being built, intended as demonstration buildings. Since it is illegal to use tires in Belgium (for risk of leaking toxic metals like lead and zinc), the project uses earthbags instead. The Earthships built in Europe by
Michael Reynolds Mick, Mike or Michael Reynolds may refer to: Actors *Mike Reynolds (actor) (1929–2022), American voice actor and writer *Michael Reynolds, British actor in one episode of BBC's ''David Copperfield'' (1966) and ''The First Churchills'' (1969) * Mi ...
have to be adapted to perform as intended. Some showed problems with moisture and mould. Some research into thermal performance was done by the University of Brighton on the Brighton Earthship. The first successful construction of an Earthship in Germany (Tempelhof/Kreßberg, 2015/16) used fewer thermal bridges but increased insulation in cooperation with a Fraunhofer Institute to prevent any mould problems.


Central America

An earthship was constructed in 2015 by the Atkinson family in southern
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
. It featured on the June 2015 UK
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
TV programme Escape to the Wild, season 1, episode 3.
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
also hosts two earthships.


South America

The first Earthship in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
was built in January 2014 in the town of
Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's southern ...
,
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. Today this building functions as a visitor center and example of self-sustainable living. In March 2016, an Earthship school was built in Jaureguiberry,
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. In May 2018, another Earthship school was built in
Mar Chiquita Mar Chiquita is a coastal lagoon in the southeast province of Buenos Aires in eastern Argentina. It is located by the Atlantic coast, 30 km north of Mar del Plata. The area is a natural reserve where a number of animal species live around ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.


New Zealand

An earthship has been built by Dawn and Lance Kirtlan near Ashburton, Canterbury. They were inspired by Mike Reynold's books and worked with a local architect and engineer, reporting that the local council were very supportive of the project.


In popular culture

The film '' Garbage Warrior'' is about Earthships and Reynolds' struggle with obtaining permits to build out of unconventional material and off the grid. The television series ''Building Off the Grid'' which aired on the
DIY Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, Home renovation, renovation, and cuisi ...
featured a home construction episode on building an Earthship.


See also

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Hurricane-proof building Tornadoes, cyclones, and other storms with strong winds damage or destroy many buildings. However, with proper design and construction, the damage to buildings by these forces can be greatly reduced. A variety of methods can help a building surviv ...
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Permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
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Peter Vetsch Peter Vetsch (born 14 March 1943) is a Swiss architect, known for building earth houses. Life Vetsch was born 1943 in Sax, Switzerland. He attended public school in Sax from 1950 to 1956. He then attended an agricultural school in Cernier ...
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Repurposing Repurposing is the process by which an object with one use value is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use value. Description Repurposing is as old as human civilization, with many contemporary scholars investigating tha ...
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Solar thermal energy Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United St ...


Notes


References

*Contractor’s Report to the Board: Designing Building Products Made With Recycled Tires. Published by the California Integrated Waste Management Board in June 2004. Produced under contract by: Chris Hammer, The Elements Division of BNIM Architects Terry A. Gray, T. A. G. Resource Recovery. Accessed at: http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Documents/GreenBuilding%5C43304008.pdf on 5 February 2015. * Hewitt, M. and Telfer, K. (2007). ''Earthships: building a zero carbon future for homes''. * Klippel, James H. https://web.archive.org/web/20090511014310/http://www.garrellassociates.com/EcoDesign.html, green page * Howarth, D. & Nortje, A. (2010). "Groundhouse Build & Cook".


Further reading

* Schirber, Michael
"Making Earthships Mainstream"
on ''Going Green at
msnbc.com MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
'', November 12, 2007.


External links

* {{official website, http://www.earthship.com
Earthship Brighton

Earthship Germany

Earthship Denmark
Masonry Solar architecture Sustainable architecture Sustainable building Architecture related to utopias