The TRUTH about Off-Grid Earthship Homes

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Visit brilliant.org/BelindaCarr/ to get started learning STEM for free, and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription.
We need to build better homes that aren’t energy-guzzlers, we need to drastically reduce construction waste and we need to reduce our reliance on public utilities. This is exactly what earthship homes achieve. These are off-grid structures that minimize their negative impact on the environment. In this video, we’re going to look at how earthship homes work, their pros and cons and whether they can revolutionize the construction industry.
Link to my Patreon page: / belinda_carr
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:17 Earthship homes
2:24 Shelter
3:14 Energy
4:07 Water & Sewage
5:23 Food production
5:53 Advantages
7:50 Sponsorship
8:33 Disadvantages
10:53 Conclusion
The 6 main principles of Earthship Biotecture are: shelter, passive cooling & heating, producing clean energy, water reuse, dealing with sewage and food production.
Shelter. When building earthship homes, old tires are packed with local earth and pounded with heavy mallets till they are stable. Each earth-filled tire weighs 300 lbs and takes approximately an hour to prepare. Layers upon layers of these tires are stacked to create load-bearing walls that act like a thermal battery. They store heat during the day, and slowly release it to the interiors at night. It is estimated that tire walls act like an equivalent R 40 wall. Interior, non-load bearing walls can be made of aluminum cans, glass and plastic beverage bottles.
Heating & Cooling. Earthships are oriented for maximum solar exposure. In the northern hemisphere, large glass facades face south and in the southern hemisphere they face north. Sun shines into greenhouses that are usually in the front of the house. Behind another glass barrier are the bedroom, bathroom, and living rooms. To cool the interior spaces, 30-foot metal tubes run through the earth berm. When a skylight in the greenhouse is opened, convection sucks warm air out of the earthship.
Clean energy. Earthships produce all the energy inhabitants need with solar panels and wind turbines. Batteries, charge controllers and inverters store this energy so that the home is powered even at night.
Water use. Rainwater and melted snow rolls off the sloped metal roof and into large cisterns behind the tire wall. A water organizing module fitted with pumps and filters purifies the rainwater so that it’s potable and fit for indoor use. This water is used in sinks, showers and bathtubs.
Sewage. There are two main types of waste water. Gray water is waste from sinks, showers, baths and laundry. It doesn’t contain any fecal matter or harsh chemicals. Black water is wastewater from toilets. Gray water from sinks, showers and bathtubs drains linear planters. Water is collected from the bottom of these planters, filtered again and pumped into toilet bowls for flushing. The black water from toilets is redirected to outdoor anaerobic septic tanks. Water from the septic tanks overflows into a botanical cell that is filled up with exterior landscaping plants.
Food production. Interior and exterior botanical cells are used to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year. The Earthship visitor center in Taos, New Mexico, has also designed mini-hydroponic planters in suspended buckets. They provide herbs, tomatoes, kale, cucumbers and more. Some Earthships have a dedicated greenhouse and coop for raising chickens and pigs. The goal is to produce enough food in one’s home to be self-sustaining.
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SOURCES:
• Earthship Hidden Costs
• Earthship 101
• Earthships in Times of...
• Earthship Encounter E2...
• Bottle Walls
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Disclaimer: This video was sponsored by Brilliant.
This video was created for educational/informational purposes and qualifies as Fair Use. If you are the creator or own the footage featured in this video and have reservations please notify me via RU-vid comments or email and I will accommodate you
#homelessness #housingcrisis #earthship #efficiency #tirewalls #diy #diybuilds

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8 июн 2024

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@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

How can we incorporate some of the best features of Earthships into homes? Rainwater collection systems, passive heating & cooling, water reuse and more? Visit brilliant.org/BelindaCarr/ to get started learning STEM for free, and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription.

@quintessenceSL 2 года назад

I had looked into these, and the biggest problems were building regulations and mold. Short of being out in the sticks, no planning office will sign off on these. The specter of regulatory capture comes to mind. Speaking with the resident engineer, he thought you could mimic the some of the effects while not having the building inspector go into a tizzy by having double or even triple gypsum boards walls to act as a thermal mass and regulate the humidity for little cost in square footage. And of course berming the side of the house that gets the most sun to balance out temperature swings (completely buried homes would be ideal, but repairs would be a nightmare). Passive cooling isn't really needed as the cost of running whole house fans is pretty cheap, but you do need to think about air flow (and probably vents beyond windows) and automatic systems that monitor outdoor and indoor (and attic) temperatures that run expediently (had a window fan like this).

@whiteknightcat 2 года назад

A couple of minor points ... ERCOT is not the only entity anticipating power shortages this year; this is now a national issue. Also, ERCOT issued their requests to conserve earlier this month precisely because we were experiencing abnormally high temperatures and many generating units were still coming off their "shoulder month" maintenance outages. By mid-month there were plenty of reserves despite record energy demand. The term "grey water" as used in this video is not the same as the term used in the utility industry. In typical practice, ALL household wastewater is routed into sewer collection systems and routed to treatment plants. This combined wastewater is referred to as "grey water" in the industry, there is no "black water" category. The terms used in the video should be understood to mean what they do only in the context of the independent housing units. I don't see how sufficient water can be collected for normal use in arid regions, especially the American Southwest which is undergoing devastating drought conditions. At some point, an outside source of water will be needed. There is no way I would want to live in a house made of garbage.

@VagabondTE 2 года назад

I've often wondered why we don't just build up big mounds of dirt on one or two sides of a house. I'm not saying we gotta make a full Hobbit hole for a house or anything but it seems like an easy way to provide a lot of insulation and protection from elements.

@Direblade11 2 года назад

@@VagabondTE Someone mentioned maintenance earlier, I'd mention pests and humidity/water damage due to the dirt seeping. Also, I've watched a man-made hill in a ditch sink a bit less than 15 feet over the course of 18 years. It looks due to sink more too, checking now. I'm sure there are other reasons too

@VagabondTE 2 года назад

@@Direblade11 I don't think humidity is a problem above the water tables. And humidity and pest can be sealed off. It wouldn't be like a basement where there's a lot more to consider. Tho, I'll give you the soil erosion. That problem would be difficult to manage. That's probably why they use the tires.

@kevinclws 2 года назад

Thank you for your balanced reporting instead of the blind cheerleading most do. Recognizing trade-offs is what enables innovation and improvement, which is what’s really needed to help the planet

@Redrally 2 года назад

I think EarthShips might work best as communal buildings of various sorts. Considering how labor-intensive they are, makes more sense to use the methodology for public or multi-use buildings.

@Aubreythepainter Год назад

start small where you are, as you are. A solar heater on a balcony or a basement window. It's easy.

@isabellasorensen8128 Год назад

So many refugees, homeless people, unemployed people or minimum wage slaves could build their own Earthships big and small. Instead of freezing to death in tent camps, or sleeping under a bridge or wasting most of their small income on renting a shitty room in shitty buildings owned by greedy slumlords in the city etc. Their strength is in numbers and time on their hands, they could easily source the materials from landfills and recycling centers (wearing protection of course), ram that earth into tires, stack those walls (of course all the building would be done with supervision experienced Earthship builders and engineers, plumbers etc). Instead of building shanty towns or tent camps, they could use most of these Earthship principles for building towards the sun, good insulation, heating/cooling, having water sources, correct sewage, and even growing some food plants that could be watered with the grey water like shown here. Ofc it would require funding for the tools, concrete, training, installing the plumbing and sewage, the engineers and plumbers, electricians to set up the solar and wind turbines etc. But still would be such a good investment instead of having homeless people perish outside..

@JamesBechard 2 года назад

Awesome video Belinda! I've been working at Earthship since 2018 and I've really enjoyed watching your channel and learning more about architecture and building so I'm very happy to see your thoughts on this topic. I think you're totally right about the time consuming nature of the construction process since tire walls and bottle walls are very labor intensive. I think a beginner may take an hour to pound a tire but an experienced team of 2-3 people can easily pound 7 in an hour. The larger tires used on trucks and suvs that are marked 265 are quite massive which can take more time but I've pounded a typical 205 car tire in 3 minutes with one other person helping dump buckets of dirt while I was pounding. Some people have tried using a pneumatic tamper to avoid pounding, and a friend of mine modified an electric jackhammer with a sledgehammer bit which seemed to work pretty well. I think the process of moving dirt is the hardest part since it will take several hundred tons of earth to make a large rammed earth tire wall, but perhaps conveyor belts or other mining tech could aid in that. Thank you so much for your videos!!

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

Why not simply use recyclable forms and build rammed-earth walls to start with?

@daveton9033 2 года назад

can you replace dirt pounding with Air-entrained concrete?

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

@@daveton9033 maybe... but concrete is one of the highest carbon producing building materials so it would sort of go against their vibe.

@michelerenae9998 2 года назад

I saw one couple use tire bales stacked like building blocks for their walls. That would elimate a lot of the labor.

@AsherahStarrchild 4 месяца назад

We should see if we can integrate our building styles together ❤️ 💜 ❤

@perryallen9058 2 года назад

I was able to get a rebate from my water district on removing a lawn and replacing it with all native plants! They helped with water retention from roof run off as well. Just getting the project in motion it should turn out great.

@MinnesotaBeekeeper 2 года назад

In what state?

@ljprep6250 6 месяцев назад

Congrats on the water rebate! That should be given out by all water districts in the USA. I ripped out all the sprinkler systems in my CA home and installed drip irrigation all around the lot and house. Then I took out the heavy water users and turned the place into a xeriscape garden. It all ran from one faucet and cut my water usage by almost 70%. In my new OR home, I ripped out 75% of the grass and put down landscape fabric or cardboard, then got 7 loads of free chips from the tree trimmers and laid on 4" of chips for mulch. 85% of the weeds are gone now, and the weeds that grow are easy to pull out. Solar is going up and I should be left with an $11 basic service charge as my electric bill soon. LED lights replaced all my incans. My well pump doesn't work very hard any more. But I wouldn't be happy in an Earthship home at all.

@HeegeMcGee 2 года назад

I wonder what the best concepts are from the Earth Ship that we could apply to local / vernacular construction. It seems like the thermal battery and passive airflow are really the keepers, along with the conscious rejection of planned obsolescence.

@luismartinez6421 2 года назад

Another concept that I consider important is the water treatment or at least part of it. I work for one of the biggest pump companies in the world, and the energy consumption for water treatment is huge, and I am not talking about the treatment itself, only the energy used to move the water back and forth from treatment plants. Reusing grey water can save a lot of energy.

@HeegeMcGee 2 года назад

@@luismartinez6421 Great point Luis! I definitely think we have to be more mindful about ecological integration when we design our communities, including aquatic permaculture.

@cinnamoon1455 2 года назад

I'd agree with all your points. Partial reuse of grey water is already being practised e.g. in Japan toilets often have a small sink to wash your hands that drains into the toilet's water tank. And if you look into passive or even energy producing houses, concepts like passive heating/cooling, sunlight and heat storage are used. They just need to become more common. In Europe you actually get subventions if you build solar panels, passive houses etc. And my home state in Switzerland has just recently passed a law that makes it illegal (with very few exceptions) to replace a heating with anything using fossil fuel.

@robertoaguiar6230 2 года назад

The thermal system only works with there is no building or trees around you blocking sunlight, though, better insulation is still the only way to reduce the heating bill. Rain collection is the easiest to take advantage on single family homes, as the roof belongs to only you, on buildings the local sewer treatment system would be the best take, as a centralized system would make suhc treatment at a larger scale and for less cost, while also harvesting grey water for washing the facade or natural gas for a generator.

@WillowGardener 2 года назад

I appreciate your analysis and I think you're absolutely right about the disadvantages of earthships requiring lots of labor and custom work to scavenge discarded materials in a culture where everyone is busy all the time. But I think this is largely an indictment of our culture rather than of earthships--we have so much material wealth already, yet our economy is set up in such a way to mandate eternal growth and very busy schedules--both of which create waste. We should be embracing a slower lifestyle and accepting the tremendous wealth we already have, rather than focusing on eternal growth. If our society were set up in such a way that people were able to live modestly while working twenty hours a week, people would have time to scavenge materials to make great practical artistic projects like earthships. That way we'd be using the waste of our culture of excess to create more wealth, rather than using our wealth to create more waste. But in order to enable this, we'd need more efficient city layouts that allow people to bike and use public transit, more medium-density housing to make our utilities more efficient, and of course a more effective social safety net. I think many concepts from earthships could be applied to medium density housing, though. One could utilize the angled windows in a 6-8 story apartment building to capture passive solar energy, with each story being slightly smaller than the one below. Building greywater reclamation into such a large building might be more feasible and profitable that building it into single-family homes. And it seems like, once you reclaimed the greywater, you could store it in tanks and use it to create thermal mass just as earthships do, evening out the temperature in such a building. I'm not sure how exactly to implement these ideas, as I'm no architect or engineer, just a residential carpenter. But I feel like someone could figure it out.

@moksound19 2 года назад

I agree with your main point here, where the issue at it's root is our broader economy and living systems. Belinda's criticism at the end is fair, but I think not as long-sighted as it could be. She suggests applying lessons to the existing suburban system - basically a slow evolution of building practices that does not force major changes to our suburban systems. But that simply isn't aggressive enough given the climate change timeline. The construction industry(and much more) will fight back against every step, lowering the rate of change. So making progress at a decent pace requires very audacious entry plans. Gotta aim higher, or we're just nibbling at the edges, and far too slowly.

@dustinabc 2 года назад

All "stable" ecosystems require constant growth. It is just balanced out with constant decay and renewal. Constant growth in a monoculture system that consistently needs external inputs is a problem. This problem exists in human culture as a result of central planning from statist governments. To maximize their power and efficiency gov'ts impose monoculture-like ideas on the people, which leads to fragile growth and eventually system-wide collapse. You'll notice that places with the greatest restrictions on individual freedom are the places with the largest levels of pollution and degenerative land use. Basically the best thing we can do for the environment and society is to restrict centralized government control. Many of the ideas you mention are good ideas, but they must be accepted voluntarily, because good ideas turn into bad ideas when they are imposed on society. #VOLUNTARYISM

@dustinabc 2 года назад

Another issue (also related to government central planners) that leads to ideas like planned obsolescence, rushed productivity, and prioritizing short term thinking over long term thinking is #FiatCurrency. In an ecosystem you might look at energy and nutrients as the currencies that are extracted and created, moved around, stored, traded, and reused. In human ecosystems, aka the economy, money represents the movement of energy and "nutrients". When governments mandate the use of fiat currency (created and controlled by themselves, with theoretically unlimited supply, which is clearly unnatural) as opposed to forms of money chosen voluntarily by the market (i.e. gold & silver), the entire system becomes corrupted, and people react in ways that make sense in the fiat economy, but not in the natural economy. Businesses that have the best ideas are outcompeted by businesses that can plug into the gov't corruption. People who think long term are punished by laws and regulations that benefit political bureaucrats and their crony friends. And the government, which produces the most waste, also externalizes the cost of garbage production, so people don't feel the actual cost, and are less thoughtful about throwing things away. Government isn't the answer to unsustainable policies, it is the cause of them. #nonaggressionprinciple #OrganicEconomics

2 года назад

@@dustinabc I disagree about the government part. In a totally horizontal and anarchist utopia you woul be right. But today government are part of forcing the unwilling to act for the good of the greater community.

@jonmedina259 Год назад

@ you are wrong about government being about "forcing good ". Government is a monopoly over the use of violence. In the context of environmentalism the government is also the biggest pollution generator. War, destruction, murdering people in foreign lands, and wasteful government spending are not only deep moral wrongs, but incredibly bad for the environment.

@kandsgibson 2 года назад

I am glad I subscribed to your channel. I'm sure I've "LIKED" all you videos. However, this one is just way too cool. AND, the fact that you give such a balanced report, which you usually do, makes it all that more credible. There's pros & cons to everything it seems. Keep it up and thank you.

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

Thanks a lot, Kendall! Like you said, there's pros and cons to everything. I try to understand and report both sides.

@AndrewGilpatric662 2 года назад

I built a small house in Maine I'm off grid and it's interesting to hear the other options and pros and cons to off-grid thank you for all your enlightening videos

@davyhotch 2 года назад

I visited one in Brighton England. They goofed the insulation so the floor was cold to the point of needing slippers over while inside. This is 30/40 miles south of my home latitude and I can walk around home fine with socks at the same time of year.

@unfairleyc 2 года назад

I'm not super bought into earthships but the passive cooling is crazy and I'd love to see how it pairs with the passive house standard.

@DryBonz1 2 года назад

What a neat coincidence. This morning, I just finished up my paperwork to attend their July class and to help build an Earthship start-to-finish in August. I've been thinking of them as an amazing showcase of different building strategies, but as a "whole package" solution they don't seem particularly scalable. That being said, more visibility on them is gonna make the public start realizing they can ask for and expect more from new developments.

@user-ol3cc8li3y 2 года назад

It is a scam your providing free labor to pound tires and haul dirt by hand with buckets. They will get as far as installing the roof and windows. The finishes and systems are usually never finished during an academy session or volunteer build.

@DryBonz1 2 года назад

@@user-ol3cc8li3y Well I'll see how this session shakes out. If nothin' else it's gonna be a crash course in plumbing, electrical, etc through a lens of efficiency. Plus I'll be getting a good workout.

@blocker1928 Год назад

@@user-ol3cc8li3y , what are you complaining about?

@best1onearth 6 месяцев назад

David Easton is the man for earth buildings. Get his books. Don't waste your time with the tires, use his form work, get a skid steer and put a mixing bucket on it. You can get one of those at Ritchie auctions. Once you finish with the skid steer you can sell it or use it. You also need a tamper, you can use a stanley ta 55, it is a hydraulic tamper so you can use it from the ports off the skid steer. Do not follow the garbage man, I have never seen a house of his that looks nice.

@ampersignia Год назад

I stayed in the Truchas Earthship in fall 2021. It was an absolutely perfect stay inside the home. You really would not notice that it’s different from a modern or even a luxurious suburban home. The main difference from the norm was the very steep temperature fluctuations in the greenhouse section that buffers all the rooms from the outdoors. It was cold at 7am where I needed a zipped up hoodie and a hot drink and it was blazing hot at 3pm. It’s absolutely worth going there though.

@quantafreeze 2 года назад

I've always been fascinated by earthship homes. The only thing that scared me is the tire off gassing.

@Nature_Quixote 2 года назад

Maybe if the tires were not plastered AND the earthship had no ventilation it would be a problem, but all earthships have air moving constantly and plaster over tires.

@snake88ification 2 года назад

exactly.

@nathanarnoldy7549 2 года назад

Tires used for earthships are used and done outgasing.

@jonmedina259 Год назад

@@Nature_Quixote is plaster gas proof? If not, I wonder if a gas proof barrier could be used between tires and plaster. I think you are right about the ventilation taking care of residual gas buildup.

@peterkral4660 2 года назад

In my country (Slovakia - middle Europe), there is on earthship home build. The owner had a huge problem with building permission, because, you have to calculate static load and fire resistance codes and so on. The standard price for individual house project is like 1500-3000€. He paid 15k for projects, because, it was hard to find expert that was able to calculate this things. Second thing is, you have to meet with energy building code, so every part of the building has minimum requirements for heat transfer or resistance of the wall, floor or roof. Not easy to calculate if your walls are made up from different materials like car tires... So not an easy task from investor

@steveasher9239 2 года назад

While all the principles are great, the reality can be quite different. I literally used to live down the road from Reynold's earthship community in Taos. I "adopted" a young couple building an earthship in his community; where you could only rent the land and not "own" it. I let them use my 700 ft deep double well to get water. Even as a double it was VERY low producing. We had a buried 5000 gallon holding tank. (I know this sounds extreme but this was a municipal facility, which I managed, and we absolutely needed that level of infrastructure) Others out there could be desperate and had to have water hauled in. I visited and followed their build over a couple of years and it was indeed back breaking. Of course if you've got money.... The early earthships had problems of over heating even in the winter because of their sloped southern facing facades. My friends built a vertical (rather than sloping) facade and they almost got kicked out because of this design decision. It turned out beautifully but I lost touch with them so don't know more. Perhaps since then (the mid 90's) the designs have improved. I personally would never have built in that community but would have considered an earthship. Someone built a monolithic dome near me and the owner let me simply come in and inspect for fun. I think they would be equally as good if not better and equally adaptable for recycling etc if one chose to do that. PS I REALLY like your videos. Thank you

@Amaranthyne 2 года назад

Thank you for sharing! I can’t imagine building your house by hand only to rent the property it’s on 😰. What happens if they can’t pay the rent? Does the community have to pay them for the value of the house or are they out of luck? I can imagine what a saving grace your help was. Although-it strikes me as odd that they didn’t receive that kind of basic support from the earth ship community they were joining. I would’ve thought the only reason to rent there before building was to have the full support of a likeminded community.

@VagabondTE 2 года назад

Nearly kicked out for a design decision?.. See that's the EXACTLY the same problems of an HOA getting angry at you about your lawn. It's never really about the environment is it? Just rent, landlords, and expensive houses. Nothing ever changes.

@steveasher9239 2 года назад

@@Amaranthyne its possible it was a one time payment but I still wouldn't trust it.

@Amaranthyne 2 года назад

@@VagabondTE I would like to point out that such things are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, many people running HOAs are controlling and nosy. On the other hand, one of my neighbor keeps burning green wood that smokes up my house and has two dogs trying to eat our fence (and succeeding) The other has blackberry that keeps coming into our yard. They are not willing to discuss these problems…unless cursing counts. They are very willing to curse. I’m sure they would have appreciated if we hadn’t moved in with five dogs. We do our best to keep them from barking, but even I find it upsetting when a pitbull rips off a fence post and shoves his head through the hole snarling and growling. They put up cameras that face into our yard to “document” our dogs barking-which is disconcerting. I guess it just shows that we do our best and bring our dogs in when they’re noisy, and that they don’t do the same with theirs. It might also document the times they threw dog feces over the fence, but they probably deleted that. Now, if you think my family and my neighbors would be difficult to live next to, then you’ve just seen some of the value of an HOA. Managing these kinds of things perhaps doesn’t directly impact the environment, but my family is moving so we don’t have to deal with homo sapiens who fling poo like monkeys to solve their problems. Moving is not an environmentally friendly process and a lot more people stay where they are because they don’t need to hear my rescues barking at a squirrel.

@VagabondTE 2 года назад

@@Amaranthyne What isn't mutually exclusive? I don't know what you're referring to and I don't even understand how mutual exclusivity fits into my or your statements. And I'm not trying to be mean.. but I don't see how your story relates to what I was talking about. It's good that you see value in HOA's. However my comment was about the entire housing system as a whole and how earthships aren't excluded from them. A HOA's providing some benefits doesn't actually relate to what I'm talking about. Like, I'm not trying to preach land decommodification but I am kinda talking about class structural issues. Sorry if that didn't come across.

@robrobichaud7821 2 года назад

I agree with you 100%. I live in Canada and have seen several of these earthship projects over the years built here in New Brunswick, PEI and Quebec. One thing that struck me is when you said they're designed to use 75% less energy than a code built home but a well designed/built passivehouse should use 90% less. In colder climates, insulation, air sealing and controlled ventilation are key and require skilled trades to achieve successfully. ...I always thoroughly enjoy your channel and your content.

@freakidiot7199 2 года назад

I believe Earthships are amazing, and I find these teachings extraordinarily useful.

@pcatful 6 месяцев назад

We were invited to a couple's Taos earthship in the 90's. They had a wonderful lifestyle. It takes a lot of initiative and perseverance, but quite possible. A problem is building codes and local jurisdictions. They probably would be difficult to pass regulations in seismic zones, but probably works with extra engineering. The attached greenhouse / passive solar heating concept is a great lifestyle addition. I helped build a solar adobe that had a large attached greenhouse. I love how you explain grey water etc, whether or not it used in the earthships. In a recent remodel of a Victorian that I designed the owner added a grey water system and roof rainwater collection for gardening. It's all quite workable and if just some of us can do this, it can be a huge help in the environment. 6:26 wonderful statement. This is architecture today threading the tech / environmental needle. Kudos on a great video. It really cuts to the chase and moves at good clip.

@donaldhollingsworth3875 2 года назад

I can remember when my house was built, The dry wall contractor was the most wasteful. They used 4' X 12' 1/2" thick dry wall. Once they cut a section off they needed the rest was thrown out where these wast pieces could have used for the closets. there were several dozen pieces thrown out that were close to 7' long.

@paulslevinsky580 2 года назад

less mudding = less time

@donaldhollingsworth3875 2 года назад

@Greg Erthal This is still common practice here in Wilmington, NC.

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

That isn't typical here. Here it is pid by the square foot. There is always waste though and I have wondered if it could be recycled into more drywall since its just gypsum and paper... turns out collection and transport cost more than the recovery value so off to the landfill it goes. If you look at this single issue and particular product it seems like there is nothing you can do but of course if you looked at the fuel industry and the way clean up is paid for through taxation of the product to the end user to start with it becomes clearly evident that recycling those materials could easily be done if the cost were folded into the initial product cost to keep it from the landfill. There is no incentive currently because it is almost free to throw something away or Just as cheap as the dump fee for the container or truck but if the costs were higher to throw something away it would suddenly be very advantageous to recycle it.

@donaldhollingsworth3875 2 года назад

@@danielbuckner2167 Dry wall is recyclable here in Wilmington, NC. Some contractors take their scrap out to the land fill but most don't. Though I have no idea if the big dumpsters are gone through to separate the recyclable materials from the waste.

@Ramonerdna 2 года назад

I LOVE how practical and applicable your reviews are. You care about sustainability but are also grounded in the real implications of cost and time. So glad I subscribed.

@lowrads3653 2 года назад

Another significant limitation of standard earthship principles is in warm regions with high humidity. The radiant heat capture properties of thermal mass reservoirs tend to work against their economical operation.

@KrisRyanStallard 2 года назад

I think that there are lessons to learn here. However, we have to keep in mind that every piece of land that we put a house on is a piece of land taken from nature. Even with the trend towards remote work, homes that are spread out will encourage more car use and make building our public transportation systems impractical.

@svennyzooi 2 года назад

This is also a great critique to the Earthships

@piscesgrl0 2 года назад

Absolutely. I recently visited the earthship headquarters near Taos, and while I thought the concept was great, its location so far from the town wasn't very practical. It's about 14 miles into Taos, which is doable on a bike, but it also means that unless the people living in this community are constantly ridesharing, they need to be physically fit, working from home, or independently wealthy/retired - something that's not easily scalable.

@svennyzooi 2 года назад

@@piscesgrl0 Yes, very true. I'd be curious what a neighborhood of Earthships would look like. Could we perhaps also build earth ships with the same density as an appartment-building? Or is this higher-density incompatable to the typology of the Earthship?

@cjjenson8212 2 года назад

I have actually built 2 small homes (first was 595 sf, second was 751sf ) the entire skeleton of the home, minus the sheathing, were completely built from dumpster diving, with permission, from construction sites whether it was single home or businesses! Thanks for validating me. Also, stop using solid tyres, cut them in half and prop them up and down, not sideways. I get all my tyres from offroading events. These are usually 12 inches or wider and at least 35" tall. I use red sand for the first 2 rows because of the way higher metal content than random dirt, and then foamcrete the rest of the way up.

@ABC-wz2db 2 года назад

Thanks Belinda, Something I’ve always thought about with earth ships is land use. They don’t seem to be very efficient with their use of land. I would like to see an multi dwelling apartment earth ship. Ha.

@HitchensRAZ0R 2 года назад

@Belinda Carr -- near the end of your video you mentioned the time consumption of making an Earthship, and you are right it would require a large team to take weeks just to finish those tire walls.... *BUT what if there was a faster way? There is: Tire Bales.* Foxhole Homes already explores this. Instead of pounding dirt into tires, you just hydraulically compress a bunch of tires into a bale and hold it with steel wire -- this method can construct an Earthships entire outer tire-wall structure being completed in a few hours with a forklift and a minimum of two workers, compared to the older method of dozens of people sledgehammering dirt into individual tires that could take weeks to months to finish. Like you said Belinda, time is money. The cost of transporting tire bales and renting a forklift more often than not trumps the cost of weeks to months of labor to finish a project.

@stephaniephouotrides2435 2 года назад

good info. I'm glad I found this channel 😊

@ayyawar 2 года назад

Thank you very much for Earth ship homes, I made this request to you few months back, and you mentioned you will put on list, Awesome work Belinda!

@war5561 2 года назад

I’ve been waiting for you to cover these, girl!!

@JohnSmith-kf1fc 2 года назад

Earthships rock! And your sub count about to rock the 200k mark too! Well deserved too. Great video

@lindacgrace2973 2 года назад

I have yet another objection to Earthships: I do not find them attractive. My home is not just my largest financial investment, it is my proudest possession. I do not want my house to be a White Elephant for my heirs. I want to build a traditionally-inspired Spanish Hacienda-style house. The antique builders had it right - thick walls, heavy clay tile roof, oriented to the south with deep overhangs and balconies, along with protective courtyard gardens. My plan is to borrow many Earthsip ideas, but apply the concepts to a much more 'normal' suburban house. I will build in an Arizona suburb but be completely off-grid. I chose Arizona in part because their codes actually encourage water capture and recycling, off-grid energy production, and permits engineered on-site sewage treatment. I am very interested in using Roman concrete instead of regular concrete. Roman concrete is identical to Portland cement concrete except that it uses slaked lime as the binding agent instead of Portland cement. The Roman secret was to add salt to the mix. Apparently, a small amount of salt vastly improves the strength and longevity of lime-based concrete by making it far less hygroscopic. Vitruvius recommended only using seawater to mix concrete in his Ten Books of Architecture circa 27 BC. This seems like a better alternative to me because I am building in a sandy/rocky area, not one rich with clay, so adobe is going to be hard to come by and will be difficult to waterproof. I would love to get your take on the Portland cement-based commercial concrete vs. slaked lime-based Roman concrete. So, the trend that you predicted - people abandoning the more extreme building experiments while applying the lessons learned therefrom to more normal suburban homes - has already begun if I'm an example. Love your content, keep up the great work!

@HeegeMcGee 2 года назад

Yay new Belinda video!

@jayarikishii 2 года назад

Thanks for the animated videos and clear information

@rockys7726 2 года назад

I've designed an ICF home incorporating water collection and solar. It will be conventionally built but self sufficient. It won't look like an earthship but will incorporate most of the concepts.

@johnfilce9236 2 года назад

Again, thank you so much for a balanced and sober analysis. Yes, there are important concepts that should be adopted, but everyone is not going to be so hands-on with their housing infrastructure.

@davestagner Год назад

I visited the Earthship site near Taos in 2021, and it was a delightful experience. Some observations… 1. The Taos mesa was chosen in part because the land there is very cheap - it’s rural and unusable for agriculture, and thus sparsely populated. This makes for a much different construction formula than high-value urban land. No one really cares what you build out there. 2. The Taos mesa only receives seven inches of rainfall a year, but most of the Earthships there are self-sufficient water-wise, or nearly so. That’s incredibly impressive. And many of them have fruit trees out front, growing in the septic black water. Fruit! 3. The current cooling system, using convection drawing through long pipes run under the berm wall, creates the best indoor air quality I’ve ever experienced. There’s none of the condensation clamminess of air conditioning… just nice cool air, in August in the southwestern desert. 4. The three-sided berm design puts Earthship construction in direct conflict with most residential building codes, which require multiple egress points for bedrooms. The only way out is through the front. That said, there’s not a lot to burn in a fire! Very little wood or other such flammable material. With all this, I think the real win for Earthship design is building homes in poor countries, where trash + cheap land + cheap labor is actually a good formula for construction.

@RashmiAgarwalRastogi 2 года назад

What is your view on rain water harvesting systems in countries like South Africa

@tomrankin4530 2 года назад

Thank you for another thought-provoking video!

@DonC11669 2 года назад

Your concepts and opinions of interpretation are impressive. Knowledge and honesty considered reasonable. Thanks for the insight.

@blackmamba3427 2 года назад

Awesome video and information 👌

@Ireland-bc2gx 2 года назад

Great video getting building department on board will be a nightmare 👍

@TheDancelow 2 года назад

Thanks for the info lady, keep it up. You are awesome.

@jakesyaseen8494 2 года назад

Watching from Johannesburg South Africa 👍

@mae1813 Год назад

I love these earth ships we drove past them years ago when I was a kid and was amazed by thier style.

@AustinCoombs 2 года назад

Great video and perspective !

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

Thank you!

@blapamaster 2 года назад

10/10 another great video love your channel

@brandy2378 2 года назад

I always enjoy your videos

@jeffreycarman2185 Год назад

There is a certain appeal to these sorts of homes, but it is not just a house, it’s a lifestyle. Great balanced breakdown of these “earth ship” homes.

@jennw6809 Год назад

I've had someone who's been telling me about Earthships for years. Great to see them explained. But yeah, the second you said it takes an hour to pound one tire, I saw the problem!

@willbroski6083 2 года назад

One question I've always had about earthship homes is the off gassing of polypropylene or rubber based recycled materials into the home. Especially when the thick tire walls are being used as a thermal mass which is intentionally heated up.

@Lili-xq9sn 2 года назад

Thank you, I wish all new buildings would at least be based on these ideas.

@sparksmcgee6641 2 года назад

New homes can be be built based on whatever you want.

@pondacres 2 года назад

The best thing about Belinda's channel is the realistic cons she presents. I've got an interest in passive solar construction, and years ago, wife and I took a trip out to Taos to see the earthship community they got there. I loved the concept, but also came away thinking that this is just not realistic for large scale construction, due to the brute labor demands with the pounding tires and stuff. Or those interior walls build with glass bottles in, beautiful, but again, not realistic that this would be a widely used construction method. But as far as repurposing grey water, for indoor gardens, lining south-facing solariums which heat the home, that's brilliant stuff.

@Ongi59 2 года назад

Great documentary, I've been following Michael Reynolds for years, you are spot on with your interpretation. With one exception, this is mandatory in poorer countries hit by natural disaster, where these materials are abundant, in fact we have islands of plastic. They have the time, labor and resources to rebuild for decades.

@G33K177 2 года назад

I'm glad you made a video about this topic, I was excited to see it. I am surprised you didn't talk much about the illegality of these building practices tho. In most of Canada (and I imagine the us) it is required to build with "noble" materials, which also prohibits the building of traditional vernacular architecture like wigwams or tipis. Spending more time to build a house might be the only option available for first home owners, but it's completely illegal in most cities and villages. I find it strange to not be able to build an affordable dwelling in the middle of an housing crisis. I know you specialise more in actual architecture, but I would love to know your view of this subject

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

Indeed.

@ripplesandleaves 2 года назад

Thanks for yet another excellent video. I've been fascinated by earth ships for years, and came to the same conclusion. The principles are excellent, and worthy. A bit more is needed to really hit the mark. The passive house standard and others are closely related. My hope is that we as a society can keep pushing these forward. Also, factoring resistance to extreme weather events too. Thank you so much for all you do!

@KevinAndrewMan 2 года назад

Glad to see you highlight these buildings. Their innovator has been refining its design and function since the 70s. Since day one, red tape and regulatory corruption have been trying to kill them. That alone says something about their effectiveness and ability to upend industrial dogmas.

@nsgrossman 2 года назад

I don't always agree with your analysis but I think you really nailed it on this one. Well done!

@SSSyndrome214 2 года назад

Wow, I'm so glad I found your channel. I've always wanted to know more about EarthShips. Seems like one can incorporate some of their features to make regular homes significantly better. Thank you for another informative video!

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

Thank you, Eric!

@henrycarlson7514 2 года назад

Interesting , Thank You .

@chip582002 15 дней назад

Concrete has been a building material for hundreds if not thousands of years. Very similar to stone. To me the biggest issue is the labor, I've watched these folks pounding tires and most people wouldn't hold up to that, much less older people. Another technique is bagging earth into these never-ending bags using a coffee can, but again it's the labor. If you're curious, watch our or my little homestead. It's a neat idea and the buildings are all circular or dome-like. The is a family, the parents, 4 kids, and eventually a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law. Nothing like free labor. These homes are not as self-sufficient as an earthship but they're unique.

@floryad Год назад

I find your videos to be quite informative.

@pollyjazz Год назад

I would love to see a video about different green house constructions. There are two that i find especially curious, the half underground kind and those japanese ( i think) ones that one side is glass and the other side is brick to absorve heat during the day and release it at night. I wonder if the brick wall side could be built with tires and cob like the one you showed us in this video? This is my new favorite channel! Thank you for so much useful information!

@crisstone2000 7 месяцев назад

I am fascinated with the concepts, but you are right, learning them is such a daunting idea, I fear that I can't figure it all out or decide which alternative build is the right one for us.

@eklectiktoni 2 года назад

I agree wholeheartedly with your final takeaway. 👍🏾‍Getting everyone to want to live in this type of building isn't feasible. As much as you and I find them intriguing, even appealing, most Americans won't. And like you said, time is such a precious commodity, many people just don't have enough to try to start a project of this scale. But as you mentioned, what's interesting about these more radical forms of building is that the *principles* could be applied to any type of structure. Reuse of greywater, passive solar design, using recycled and waste building materials, on-site water collection and energy production - all those things CAN happen even with the standard suburban homes we currently see.

@michelerenae9998 2 года назад

I'm considering using some earthship features into a berm home here in Indiana. We have cold winters and hot humid summers. I'm thinking of pouring concrete for three walls that would be bermed, concrete floor with radiant heating, south facing greenhouse out front, cistern to collect water from the roof, as well as solar panels on the roof, maybe a rocket mass heater for additional heat. Also considering hyper adobe for a couple of interior walls to help with thermal mass. I've also seen a video from Pennsylvania where they're running earthtubes under the wall and coming up through the slab. Still trying to figure it all out. Your videos are wonderful though. You're incredibly informative. Thanks!

@ThePuppymomma 4 месяца назад

FYI 11 Years ago In southern Indiana I bought a 5 year old 2-story 1950 square foot per story, super insulated 6 inch wall, and an attic 3/4 full of blown in fiberglass insulation, home on one and three quarters acres. The lower level was Earth bermed with Windows on the Southside walkout. My heating and cooling bills up there were half the cost of my 1200 sq ft home in central Florida. Trying to be conservative with energy usage here, still using Duke Energy both before I moved. I wished I could have magically put that house down here, because the Summers up there were just as hot as they are down here, some days more so. Because of how they price conventional homes, and compare them, including my property taxes, it was only considered a one-story home with a basement, which killed my resale value when I sold it after I divorced my husband. I invested $400,000 in improving it, it sold for $240,000. . . I bought it thinking that that was going to be my forever home it was beautiful 1 3/4 acres nestled in someone else's 140 acre woods, with a runoff fed Creek bed behind it, and many families of Pileated Woodpeckers.

@martincrash1 Год назад

love the content

@nedonadeem3605 7 месяцев назад

Grate job !

@blocker1928 Год назад

We had minus 25 below zero the week before Christmas in Red Lodge Montana, and our house was ok with no heating, and it's not even finished yet. So, in summary, a properly built Earthship performs very well in a cold climate.

@Giganfan2k1 2 года назад

In colder climates we they should route the pipes for cooling under the house and surrounding area. The use fans to reverse the flow of air into heating a large section of earth under the home. When winter hits the ground will have a lot of thermal load.

@danielvivian3282 2 года назад

Belinda, I agree with your summary and would like to add two more thoughts. One of the big draws toward earthships is the supposed reuse of waste material (bottles and tires) but I caution that this reuse is only temporary. The life of typical North American houses are about 125 years. At the end of that life the earthship will need to be demolished and those tires and bottle will have to be disposed of at that time.I also caution that there is a Ponzi scheme in the building of these things. It's way too much labor to put one of these together by yourself so people have organized "teaching parties" to get "students" (free laborers) to pack the sand in the tires. These students are to then become teachers and get other "students" to help them build their own earthship houses. Well you can extrapolate that over a few generations to see that the student labor pool will dry up and the Ponzi scheme collapse.

@Michael-xr5yx 2 года назад

Love your videos! Would love to hear more about hempcrete in actual use cases. Wondering about the longevity in moist climates. It seems like an almost ideal material.

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

Thanks, Michael. I'll try to make a video on it soon.

@guythompson5021 2 года назад

I have been to an earthship home in ontario which has cold winters. according to the owners their home maintained a 63 degree temp year round due to the incredible amount of thermal mass. they did have a secondary heat source(wood stove) to use during the winter however they opted not to use it as it over heated the home. so they stuck with the 63 deg and an extra layer during winter. I believe that instead of tires using concrete masonry units filled with concrete would be enough to replace the packed tires, offer thermal mass, structural integrity and lower the labor requirements . as well 1 hour to pack a tire seems to high as I have packed a tire with sledge hammers in 15mins. using a pneumatic tamper would also speed up tamping. the earthship is labor intensive but I believe by substituting some materials as described above would make it a much more attractive way to build. infact that is my plan.

@John-tq4bf Год назад

The biggest obstacle Belinda is local regulations telling you that you must blend in with the surrounding area and they just won't accept anything outside those regulations.

@brainwashingdetergent4322 2 года назад

BELINDA!!! Great video, as per usual, is this a segue to straw bale constructed homes? I think that style is a good bridge between the earth ship style and typical stick built! Thanks again for sharing your time

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

Good prediction! :)

@brainwashingdetergent4322 2 года назад

@@BelindaCarr yay!

@cindyjohnson5242 2 года назад

Thank you! I love the Earth Ship concept. I'm too old to build it myself. I love the idea of recycling the water through the plants and toilets. I wish there were a way to incorporate the ideas into a 1970s home. I'm down in South Central Texas. An hour south of Austin. I am concerned about water usage, insulation and energy usage with all these black and brown outs. Do you have video talking about double wall construction? I know it's usually used in the colder climates, but I'm interested in using it in our hot humid south.

@marksadventures3889 2 года назад

This is something I had read about and for some time thought of myself as a lifestyle- which to me it is mainly. But as you say, practicality is an issue where space is at a premium and in Northern regions like Europe. Iceland could work using the natural heat off the earth - if you don't mind the smell of bad eggs around and your partial to long nights and a cold climate. As the film shows this concept has been around since the late seventies at least yet little of it's technology has been assimilated into broad building practice. Such blinkered vision is why we are still way behind where we should be now. Great video.

@captainamazing1356 Год назад

I've watched some videos on Earthship homes and for me the take away is in designing the home and using free or low cost materials in such a way that activate the principles of physics to accomplish the 6 points the inventor of Earthships talks about. It's not about filling tires with dirt and putting bottles in the walls. Take the principles of thermodynamics or whatever you want to call it and create a self sustaining living space. Create your own version of an Earthship.

@lainabond352 Год назад

I would live to own an earthship home but you are right its alit of labor that I can't afford . Thank You for your information.

@PyroTechU 2 года назад

Have you thought on doing a video on light gauge steel framing ? You mentioned it in your video about container homes and their draw backs but I haven’t seen any major tech channels or sustainment channels talking about light gauge steel framing. It seems (on the surface )that it the golden ticket for allowing the modular design of homes that most architects are obsessed with but without the constraints of predetermined sizes. I would love to see a video on the pros and cons on the subject.

@BelindaCarr 2 года назад

I started working on a video about the pros and cons of light gauge steel framing, but I never finished it. I'll try to release it soon! Thanks for the reminder!

@thomas6502 2 года назад

Super interesting topic. Appreciate your thoughts on these Belinda! Thank you. (I share your sentiment. We're hoping to find an optimal solution that uses the best ideas from traditional construction and passive technologies without the massive time requirement as well--since that's not my area of expertise, but yet I wish there were a solution we could just purchase as our next home/living arrangement. That pursuit is part of what brought us to your channel. :-) Keep up the great work.)

@simonAdeWeerdt Год назад

Earthship homes are a great and wonderful contribution to diversity in homes. Yes they use lots of labor and so suit those inclined to that.

@zencone 2 года назад

You should do a show on monolithic dome building.

@cannibalcrow7524 2 года назад

Great 5⭐ videos! 💕💕 The problem is this country is not about sustainability it's all about the profit of the ones running this country, there known as the big corporations! Always waiting on the next video thanks again for your time!!

@tlockerk 2 года назад

Great review, I grew up around these homes in northern NM. I now live in subtropical area, and wonder how they would be adapted for the very different climate.

@suehull6688 2 года назад

There is one in Florida and some in Puerto Rico.

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

Good wrap up at the end. There are probably codes to cite for water use as it seems someone once told me in perhaps Japan the toilet tank is filled from the sink waste. Someone here will correct or refine that Im sure. The wide oscillation of temps in the desert makes those homes doable but as you mentioned northern homes will be problematic. Also homes in humid areas create a potential for issues too. I thought you were going to mention underground homes and rammed earth for second which are also interesting methods of building and temperature regulation.

@wabash1581 2 года назад

Thank you for the video. I found it very informative. I have liked the idea of Earthship homes for years now. They are not practical for everyone. Where I live in Columbus, Ohio there is no way to even try to build one. One point you did not mention is they are considered landfills in zoning. I just bought an old home (old for American standards, almost 100 years old). It is decently insulated and now has solar panels on it now. I collect rain water for my garden. Those changes have made a huge difference in my energy bill and water usage in the summer. I don't think my contribution will change the world. But they are steps I would like to see more people take, not to try to save the planet, just to be more self sustainable. Have less emissions and free water delivered by the sky, is just a by product.

@coyjin 2 года назад

I see earth ships as an old way of building your home in a modern world. It use to be that you, and some times your community, would build the homes, barns, shops, and such needed in your town yourselves with the materials on hand like locally sourced lumber, adobe. brick or stone. with earth ships it's what is locally on hand like used tires, aluminum cans, ect. while this method is commendable I think there is still an argument to be made that automation and manufacturing still have the potential for making track style homes into a better product. that's also why I'm subscribed to your channel I'm always fascinated with the products and building methods you highlight in your videos.

@purplebugfoot456 2 года назад

@Belinda Carr Would it be possible to put Rockwool, specifically basalt mineral wool batts, in an encapsulated nitrile rubber mat? Would the fibers shred the rubber, and what would the compressive strength be like?

@mrzinky9620 11 месяцев назад

One incorrect point you relayed is the "R40" claim. Earthships rely on mass, insolation (windows) and solar orientation. You don't get to claim that the heat transfer of the mass (tires filled with pounded earth) is insulation. That's why you don't see these in hot, low desert climates or as you mentioned, northern climates. Still, a system using proper solar orientation, proper windows for seasonal solar gain or avoidance, ventilation, mass for thermal balance (heat storage without the high labor component of pounded tires) and insulation against heat gain/loss when it is not desired is something that would benefit billions of people. The water treatment and food production on site is necessary for many of the sites, and would certainly be a bonus for others. I'd say this video is 95% correct. Great work.

@matt16matt Год назад

Totally agree, earthship is not the future of houses, but if we can use those principles to new building it will save a lot of ressources and energy.

@pigstain7531 2 года назад

The glass bottle one are robbing the need for recycled glass bottle which means the need of new virgin materials (so does the aluminium cans). Not really sustainable. Agree on your last points 👍🏻

@BigHenFor 2 года назад

Earthship homes are niche structures, and don't work well in cooler climates, so their impact is minimal. But the established building industry, architects, and planning departments could use their value framework - sustainability, waste management, etc., - to shift the design of homes towards sustainability and care for the environment.

@kissit012 2 года назад

They’ll be put to better use long term than a bunch of bottles used for useless consumerism and over production of products most people don’t need. Not to mention most glass isn’t recycled anyway.

@haught7576 2 года назад

Far, far larger of an issue is the cement, which greatly inflated these structure embodied energy/carbon footprint. Other methods of using recycled materials are normally orders magnitude less emitting than equivalent construction with virgin materials.

@danielbuckner2167 2 года назад

Cans, yes. Glass, no. There is only so much aluminum and although cans can be recycle the cleaned very well it takes a lot to make something as much as wasted in the process but they should still be recycled. However glass doesn't recycle very well because glass can be made from natural materials that are widely abundant and the crushing and cleaning and transporting of recycled glass exceeds the cost of Simply using those new materials so you're just adding more pollution into the environment and fuel use to recycle something at a higher cost. If it can be up cycled or used for a different purpose than by all means it should be because otherwise it's simply gets thrown away and is wasted. The cans are light enough and useful enough as a material to Warrant their transport and recycling however.

@stevepailet8258 2 года назад

There are a lot of great concepts in an earthship. That said you are correct in your assessment of the homes. Most end up being in the $200 to $400 per sq foot range. I have looked at a variety of building materials that make a lot more sense. I would suggest looking at building with earth blocks or rammed earth. Both have the identical positive features of Steel belted bricks that could literally take many months to years to fill and pound down (I would suggest an air powered ram as it is readily available and is often used to do rammed earth) As to the used tires they can be problematic to people who are sensitive to out gassing of the tires which while possible is not normally probable. As to the water module most that I have seen use a UV filter. I am not sure why but they always seem to place it at the inlet of the system. It needs to go right before the final filtration. Why? Because they rely upon the light given off by lamp. If there are particulates in the water the lamp light is shaded and the effects of this biologic irradiance is greatly reduced. From most of the videos I have seen the builders do not understand that it takes a lot more solar panels than they imagine. Plus way to many are using 12 volt systems similar to what is used in RVs. Not efficient at all.

@christophersmith8014 2 года назад

I like the Wasp 3d printed house method that uses the soil on site. If the best earthship features were incorporated into that design you wouldn't need to scavenge or process any trash. You would just be rearticulating the soil directly into a form that is useful for living in.

@JGoodwin 2 года назад

How well do the tires hold up being in the walls? How long until they disintegrate?

@joetilman7227 2 года назад

Have you considered doing a video about Arcosanti?

@VagabondTE 2 года назад

Yeah, I also feel like it's the principles of Earthship homes that are the biggest thing we should adopt. And the design should be a little bit more modular to suit adaptation and scale. I'm surprised they don't have a specific design that can be adapted state-by-state. Like Texas would need its own specific design of Earthship home. But once that's figured out maybe they can be copied and mass-produced. Like, why can't they put four bottles or so into a standard square concrete brick? Those could be mass-produced somewhere and shiped to build large sections of Earthship homes a lot easier. And I know those tire walls could be built easier. An hour per tire? Really? Just having a single Ground Pounder machine would drop that. Maybe there is a lot I don't know but the military can build a base in a few days by dropping sand in giant sandbag containers to make walls. Surely these principles can be made more efficiently.

@OspreyKnight 2 года назад

Hescobarriers aren't meant to last more than a year or two. The ones on our training FOB are disintegrating after 5 years of use. They're designed for establishing a base quickly and cheaply but not meant to last(or even be torn down within months or years). The second stage adds concrete T walls and wooden structures, and the third being hardened buildings made with traditional building techniques. The problem with earthship homes is that they rely on manual labor in a lot of cases and require a lot of manual effort and constant effort to find second hand materials that fit the need just right. To fit mass production needs you would need a solution that uses uniform materials. Your idea with the bottles... is just a brick with extra steps. You're absolutely right with the ground pounder, but keep in mind you're working right on the edge of your wall. Hitting it too hard too fast might cause it to collapse. That said tamped earth has been doing it for years. I think overall the concepts need to be pulled from these houses more than the building practices. Not because they aren't good but because they aren't practical on a large scale.

@haught7576 2 года назад

“Earth bag construction” is the term used for civilian versions of military construction. It is very promising, cheap material costs while also being far more adaptable in design, and much less labor intensive/easier to mechanize

@aa-kz7hc 2 года назад

ive heard that the tires can be toxic after a certain amount of time so i dont think tires will work for long.

@aa-kz7hc 2 года назад

@@haught7576 yeah instead of using tires that might turn out to be toxic we can do earthbag construction.

@metrotechguru5863 2 года назад

A very thought provoking video. I agree with your conclusions. We need to find ways to adapt the home we currently have as well as develop new construction methods to develop energy efficient homes. The flimsy and thoughtless construction of new home today just disgust me. They are just as disposable as a drink can.

@paulslevinsky580 2 года назад

I lived in Alberta, Canada, where winters are fairly long and severe. There was a brief period where some homes were built with 2 x 4 framing and thin diagonal metal straps, all wrapped in 2 inches of styrofoam and vinyl siding. A well-placed boot could easily go clean thru the exterior wall. These were large two story homes!!!

@maikaaloaclarke5923 Год назад

I'm concerned about the off gassing from the tires as well. Although I would love to incorporate many of these concepts into my dream home.

@user-sd2ef7fq2o 11 месяцев назад

This is a valid concern. Tires can release brominated flame retardants (PBDEs) into the Earthship. Also, if you live in a colder climate asthma, respiratory problems are linked to poorly insulated homes so if your earthship is not well-insulated then you'll run into problems (well, more than one). For the former you can used rammed-earth, adobe, earthbags or stone as a substitute for tires. Earth-ships are both beautiful and elegant in design and in its closed-loop philosophy that underlies it. But more times than not, beauty is skin-deep.

@lilmikeytheskater 2 года назад

Great video! Though I think many of your critiques have to do with public policy rather than critiquing the earthship design/ ethos itself.

@FreekHoekstra 2 года назад

Could not agree more, earthship homes are an inspiration, but not easily executable. They are idealistic and unfortunately like anything idealistic means it’s impractical. That said the idea to reuse your bathwater to flush your toilets and water your plants is an obvious one. As is making sure you orient the windows of your home to generate pass of energy. Although unfortunately when I walk around my neighborhood even though it’s cold I see people closing their curtains anyway, blocking the free heating it would provide. The idea of the ventilation through the rays mound in the back is also brilliant although I have some concerns about radon gas they have tried to limited by tilting the tubes downwards towards the outside. But it shows you don’t always need to use an AC unit you can just use the ground temperature which is cool enough. Anyways they’re hugely inspiring structures very interesting construction and I very much applaud them for trying and championing new things. If I ever get to building my own custom home I will use many of the principles but with more standard materials and finishes, and probably more modern appearance.

@freethebirds3578 2 года назад

I keep curtains and blinds closed in the winter because the windows are 50 years old and have no R value (I live in a large apartment complex).

@FreekHoekstra 2 года назад

@@freethebirds3578 I think the point is that in winter if the sun is on it, you want to open the curtains to let the sun heat the room. Although if the windows are Absolutely terrible maybe that still costs more. But I also see a lot of people with good glazing and lots of windows on the south side of their house who permanently leave the blinds up. At that point don’t have a window there and have a well insulated wall.