For those complaining about sub $300K not be "affordable" keep in mind this in in the USA where the average new Construction House will run you at least $145 per square foot. In most Cities, the minimum square footage for a Residential Home is at least 1500 sqft. That means, without you adding fancy fixtures, extra large windows, a Solar system, etc, you are looking at a cost around ~$220K. This specific Earthship costed about $219K, meaning this new Model is in fact as affordable as standard construction, in the USA. And this home will save you THOUSANDS per year in Utilities, grow some of your own food, be healthier to live in, no concern for Grid-down situations (I'm looking at you PG&E in California), be more comfortable in extreme temperatures and give you a sense of peace due to how quiet it is inside.
this is a great design and i am absolutely a believer in earthships as a concept. But. 300 k is only 'affordable' to a certain segment of the world's population. For the rest of us basic shelter continues to be a struggle and 300,000 dollars continues to be an unattainable figure
maybe you should think of it in the understanding that once it's payed off it's the cheapest home you will ever live within. however this opens another question. i wonder if they are rent to own? because if that's the case, than anyone could afford it as there are no utilities because all that's required is the rent of the building.
I'm pretty sure they di a lot of relief work :) and once I get mine build I'm going to help people build their houses for free I've made some personal modifications to the design + free labor would put it at around $10,000 .
Yes it would, and you can bet your ass that working alone it will take you a good year to do the whole build by yourself, working every day. Good luck :)
@@RobinGWakker maybe you should think of it in the understanding that once it's payed off it's the cheapest home you will ever live within. however this opens another question. i wonder if they are rent to own? because if that's the case, than anyone could afford it as there are no utilities because all that's required is the rent of the building.
@@5226-p1e Anyone with the means can build it themselves. It will take you a good solid time though, especially if you have no prior experience with building, not to mention you need to stick to certain building codes, which depend on which state or country you live in. Not sure what you mean rent to own, but as far as i know, there is no government subsidy over a home like this in the USA. But correct me if im wrong.
@@RobinGWakker so the ppl who build these demand payment. well not everyone can build these on their own maybe they are disabled but they have the money to have someone build it. however they may not have the full amount of how much it costs upfront. So they rent to own.
From the start, I was watching this video to get to "does the Encounter have a laundry room?" Thanks for finally getting to it! And its at 14:17 in case anyone else is wondering.
Hey ! I'm building my earthship soon and I plan to have it done this year . After mine is built I want to help people build theirs ! I made some personal changes to Michael Reynolds design, and my total should come out to about $10,000 if you do the labor yourself but I want to get a bunch of people together to help each build for free :) let me know if you want my info .
I hear you girl! Me too! Plan on going to a workshop and getting hands on experience to learn how to build and create a layout for mine in the near future. Try helping to build one first
I 've been watching the RU-vid and found the design of Earthship of house. I like the design and affordability. I want to buy and move to Taos now. Thank you Mike!
The material is either free, very low cost, used, donated or reclaimed. The labour is mostly free or even paid for by the students or cheap. How it could possibly amount to $3000 is crazy and then their are still a lot of glitches that still have to be iorned out.
Great video by the way, well done. I would have liked however for you to go more into how you brought costs down from the global model and what did you have to sacrifice in this process. I also have a question about the vents being placed in the closets. If the doors are closed even with the slats on those particular doors, doesn't the air struggle to circulate, especially if there are clothes, shoes boxes in the closet like most North Americans fill their closets up. Wouldn't have been preferable to place them elsewhere? My last question is about the shower and the toilet being separated. Is that an absolute in this design iteration? I also noticed there is no bath at all unless I missed something. Thanks
Also the issue of moisture in humid states. Coming through the closet could create a mold situation with your clothing. I wonder is there some kind of filter situation that would reduce moisture and still maintain the kind of pressure needed to pull the air through and cool the home.
Michael, with all do respect you are a Genius at this incredible construction but there is something about a beautiful girl as a sales representative that makes the place look so much more affordable and comfortable. Lol well done sir! Wow no roof leaks, eat your heart out Frank Lloyd Wright, lol
Is a $300000 house really an affordable house? Where I come from that would be a price for a mansion. I understand that housing is more expensive in North America, but I don't see how this design could go global.
Yeah, I love Earthship concept and would love to build one but $300K is way out of my price range. Wonder what the Global model costs if the "affordable" one is $300K?
Will using hempcrete change the functionality of the structure? And are lithium ion batteries (like the Tesla wall) a longer lasting alternative? Have you considered implementing a hydrogen generator?
To my knowledge, batteries aren't an alternative to solar power, but a supplement. The electricity still has to come from somewhere. Batteries provide an intermediary so that you don't have to rely on grid power during long periods of low output. Tesla's Powerwall, for example, is designed to be used in conjunction with solar power (although you can also get them to use as glorified techy backup generators if you're on grid power). Same thing with hydrogen generators - you need electricity to power an electrolyzer.
You only have 3,000 gal water storage for 4 people ? I'm confused how do you size the system how many gals of storage do you need if collecting rain all year round .
Being Canadian I love the two door entrance , helps keep the snow at obey . Love the roof hang over which give some shade . Bathrooms in the bed rooms is a bladder saver , special in the middle of the night . Enjoy the ideal of whirly birds for the roof vents , that are in the green house . ( Colling wood Ont earth ship ) A must two car garage , we drive pick up truck to save money in building cost ( Pantling earth ship ) The owner of that ship is smart as a whip , save a lot of time and money on labor intense work. Know the earth ship in ( P.E.I ) he maybe a young man he has ideal for over head storage , that needs some twigging . The outer windows to the bedrooms for some sleeping private's the best so far I have seen ( Denis Weavers earth ship) Love the second green house on the ( Phoenix earth ship ) but would be more provided as a hold circler building , with a full tube running a round on the inside circle. With rocks and water plants for fish and other compatible life. I'm glad the battery's have been upgraded , and little maintenance
I'm not able to build a earthship Myself , AND I can't afford a $300000 home loan either ! A 195000 dollar home loan costs $ 1200 a mo principle + tx + ins ask Me how I know ( btw that's for 30 yrs ) . I'm 66 yrs old what's the odds I'll be able to pay it off ( as if I could float the loan in the first place ) ? I get the principle of earthships , I do ( I'd LOVE to own one ) ! I just don't see any way to afford one ( even if the labor was free ) !
@MikkelRS You're probably correct , BUT , I don't have a small Army of starie eyed 20 something year olds willing to build one for free , eat smores & sing coum by ya round the bon fire !!!!
Fantastic video, thank you. But in Portugal 300k is completely out of reach for the most population. Is there another way? Perhaps as someone mentioned, if you do your own? Do you support this? Keep up the good work.
How well would home do in Montana for example..I know there are a few built but how does house handle very cold winters? I'm buying land soon and have been leaning towards the earth ship. I've followed your homes for years and they are absolutely beautiful and functional..the real cold climate is what concerns me.
@@bookcadenb4584 The lowest temperature EVER recorded in Taos was 1.2 F degrees above zero; the average temperature there in winter is 25 F degrees above zero - nothing like Montana.
Why can't the two rooms be joined with the livingroom and the kitchen moved elsewhere? Do you always have to build it in a rectangular shape? I.e. why doesn't the kitchen have its own designated space, that way you can join the two bedrooms?!
Putting bedrooms on each end makes it a safety thing. In case of emergency, it is easier and quicker to get out of the building. Was my understanding from one of the other videos.
I don't like the WOM and the POM in the bedroom. I'd rather have it on the back wall like on the Global model along with the bathroom washer dryer on the inside. Other than that, its perfect!
Allot of people have been asking about the cost of the home and have commented about 300k being less then affordable. I might be able to answer some questions as I have been checking this out for quite some time and I have visited taos as well. First of all you need to realize that this is radically different then a regular house. Think of this as a higher up front cost for little to no bills related to your home for the rest of the life of the building. Consider that this building collects it's own water and electricity. It also does sewage treatment as well as being able to grow food in the green house section. There for your monthly utilities such as water, sewage, and electricity are close to zero - here in the USA that alone is a savaings of many hundreds of dollars a month. This won't entirely eliminate your grocery bill but that too will be considerably less. Since it heats and cools itself passively you will use allot less propane or natural gas as well. Not only that but maintenance costs of this building are near zero. You dont have to replace the roof every 10 to 20 years. You will never have to paint or side 3/4 of the exterior walls. These homes are far far less susceptible to damage from storms, earthquakes, and even fires. In total this building could save you between 400 and 1000 a month. If you take those savings and invest them over the length of a standard mortgage that amounts to between 500k and 1.2 million. Which frankly a regular house never does that. These building use allot of recycled materials so the total materials cost is less then an average home - perhaps a third of the total cost of the building. The other two thirds is labor. These buildings are very labor intensive. But it is possible to get friends and family to help you which would reduce the total out of pocket cost. The construction of these buildings ends up becomming a series of social events which almost never happens with a regular house. The company is educating people as well as building. They also do a massive out reach effort and are doing things like building hurricane relief shelters. They travel all over the world for builds and as such they are not living high on the hog.
I agree with you some what on the cost, it can definitely be seen as an investment; however, the Earthship model ( as it stands today) is only an option for place such as New mexico. For example if this same model were built in upsate New York, it would not be livable and anyone who did would likely freeze to death under certain circumstances. It also uses a lot of concrete, which is an unsafe and environmentally harmful material due to its side effect of depleting oxygen inside the home (not completely just enough so that people with asthma would suffer) as well as contributing to 10% of greenhouse gases. I think that the cost can actually go down as the greenhouse is a completely unnecessary addition which is likely half of the cost of the house, but this design still has a long way to go before it is marketable to the entire world.
@@aleclewis9496 I agree that it gets pretty cold in upstate new york. However, I think that you are unaware of the extreme colds that the earthships are subject to elsewhere. I would submit that an earthship can actually work better in new york in some regards. Taos New Mexico is the high desert. They have homes there between 7000 and 9000 feet in altitude. It is in fact a ski area with quite abit of snow particularly at the upper elevations. They routinely have extreme cold in the teens and lower in the winter. Their "average" coldest day of the year has a low of 12 and a high of 39. Compare that to Plattsburgh, NY with a low of 10 and a high of 27 on it's average coldest day. Or better yet compare new york to the earthship in lethbridge, alberta. It too has a average coldest day of 13 to 31. Both of the comparison locations are subject to extreme cold and brutal wind chills. I personally have been to the Lethbridge area with temperatures of -5 to -10 degrees. The video for the lethbridge house mentions steady interior temperatures for most of the year and using a small wood stove for a little extra heat. They mention 14 to 22 degrees C without the stove = 57 to 71 F. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EAvY5JeMz9w.html They have tomatoes growing in January in the alberta home.....that is no where near freezing inside. I have seen small wood stoves and fireplaces in the Taos homes i visited as well. In any of those three locations a regular house must be heated at a cost of hundreds if not thousands of dollars each winter - failure to do that would mean freezing pipes in a regular home. The greenhouse is integral to the design. It acts as a buffer between the extreme cold outside and the warmth inside. It's food production is a part of the overall savings that come from the building. I have never heard of oxygen issues with concrete after curing and I worked for a concrete testing firm. The greenhouse however helps with that too as the plants produce oxygen as a part of their biologic processes. Given the food shortages that we are likely to face this summer, i would tend to think that the greenhouse very suddenly has quite abit more value. Sales of gardening supplies are up about 50% nationwide according to Ace hardware.
@@michaelstrom2691 I did do some more research and thank you for providing some info. I definitely understand the concept as a whole a lot better now rather than just this specific video example. I have seen really well built designs and this one i believe is a poor representation. I would still say some changes or innovation needs to be made if they expect to have most of the country opting into Earthship living. But I think more importantly this will just show us more techniques on how to improve the eco friendliness of our modern architecture.
SynysterJag What model would you need for central coast of Ecuador where you wouldn’t need to worry about heating but maybe a desiccant tube for humidity?
There is nowhere in the USA (where Michael Reynolds lives) where you could build a House for 5-10K unless you are doing it completely off-grid, in a County with zero Build Permits and of almost entirely found (as in free) materials, plus 100% of your own labor. The actual cost for this Earthship was about $219K, which includes a HUGE amount of Labor hours to complete it.
@@bookcadenb4584 It does not have to be in the USA. I would like to see this type of design work in poorer parts of the world. Perhaps not 10K, but still 200 is way too much. You can buy a large family house here for about 80K.
@@sopi2 I'm sure you can, but the point is the pricing Michael is comparing to as "affordable" is for USA Homes. Also, if you do 100% of the Labor yourself and use as much found/free/recycled materials as possible, you could cut the cost of this Model probably in half.
@Mr Big If I remember correctly, Dan (one of the Crew of Earthship Biotecture for years) built one as his starter home and if I remember the video correctly it cost under $40,000 total. I'd love to know how the Codes are in Wales for Earthships as I'm moving to Scotland in 2021 and I was under the impression that it's very difficult to get Planning permission in the UK for them.
Just like regular interns learning/gaining real experience on the job learning construction, electrical, broadcasting ect.. -smh Negative bigots hating everything and everybody good in life will never cease to amaze me. :)
@@michaelducote2509 Oh stop it with the bs PC-ness. There's no problem with volunteering to learn anything you want, but it's cheap labor cut and dry. I'd venture to say that maybe 10%, if that, of these "interns" ever get to build one of these homes for themselves. Why? Cause it costs a lot of money along with that labor- which will conveniently disappear when you need it unless you got, that's right, cash. I could see if it was a true communal response where you work towards getting help on your own build after so many hours/projects like the Amish, but it's not. It's nothing against this company (love what they do for sustainable living), or the product-- I'd love to own one of these homes (I'm obsessed), but it is what it is. I mean, if you can not only sell people on busting their butts for free, but also have them pay for the privelege, why wouldn't you? Also, Idk how much construction you've ever done, but it's hardly ever on a volunteer basis unless your helping your dad. The construction business/trades is a "paid for work" venture and not free labor. Broadcast internship is an avenue, and a better one, to get into the business for poorer folks vs going to school. It's more of a who you know proposition and not even remotely similar to pounding out dirt tire blocks. 2 completely different types of work... I mean volunteering.
I do not like the baths or the design! I dearly love the idea of the earth ship but this isn't nearly as appealing as the older ones. There is no way I am getting in a shower with gravel!!!
Ugh. I have been watching different videos about Earthships and it is an amazing idea brought into reality but only for those who can afford it. There is NO way this is going to change the world as the majority of people on the Earth are too poor, and cannot afford a house that is just under $300,000. Even if there is minimal cost after that. And this model is just UGLY. You walk in the front door and the shower is to the right. Great. The greenhouse. The toilet to the left. The bedrooms: Small and ugly and the closets are …..wait, how will you fit a bed and where and even a dresser? The kitchen? OMG. My kitchen is more beautiful than this one and I live in a big two bedroom in Chicago. In fact my whole apartment is more beautiful than this home. Really disappointing and my conclusion about Earthships is that they are for the wealthy. Good luck to the rest of us.
