Awesome, love it. As a general contractor, been in construction 27 years or so, I really wanted to build an earthship for ourselves. We live in Oklahoma though, so I had some concern about the high humidity that we can get for extended periods. I have an engineering background, and I think I have come up with a solution for this, but wasnt willing to take the chance. We ended up going a different direction last year when we built ourselves. We did go out to Taos though, and even stayed in one for a few days. Really intriguing design.
@@Offgridgoat ….multiple change I feel would need to be made to the base design. One being the earthen back wall. While understanding the importance of having the thermal mass, I believe in high humidity areas this will be an issue. So in order to solve that, it needs to be something that can absorb and store the temperature. It may be that a thick concrete wall could accomplish this, while still allowing for a better option to alleviate potential moisture issues. I have laid out a multi layer design that would ensure no ground moisture issues on the interior. Unfortunately the cost of this, in todays ever changing supply concerns, is pretty substantial. Even building it myself would still result in a large expense. The second substitute may be CMU blocks then filled with concrete, or possible earthen material, but would still need to be thick enough to allow for sufficient temperature absorption. And again, following this initial construction, there has to be multiple layers behind the wall to solve the moisture concern. Some of those layers being a vapor barrier, a layer that has high hydraulic conductivity to divert the ground moisture etc, a layer of insulation to isolate the thermal mass being used (I think this becomes more important when using concrete), and finally a water proofing layer/membrane (in addition to the previously mentioned vapor barrier). For many, the cost of this would not be feasible. Instead of the housing becoming more dost effective, it actually increase cost per sf. However, this type of design (once proven) would solve two other potential, but very real, concerns in building an earth ship. First, the issues of financing through traditional means. Most banks will not loan on a tire and earthen structure. Secondly, many people, for many years now, have steered away from this incredible overall design because of it not being traditional. While that is what draws me, and many others, toward its unique and effective design, its those very things that keep the vast majority of home buyers from committing their single largest purchase in life towards. I believe by making a few “concessions” in design materials (but still accomplishing the purpose behind the design) it would allow for easier financing, locality compatibility, a higher positive response and wider acceptance of these structures. Thats the short version of my .02, but usually not worth that. LOL. I do honesty believe the larger concept here could drastically change our energy consumption, overall lower home maintenance costs, and even safer structures than many others. But to truly do so, the reality is that there must be changes made to the current and traditional design. The purists dont want to discuss it, but these type alternatives would solve many resulting concerns and issues in constructing such a brilliantly designed structure.
