Comments on: Why not an Earthship?

By: Earthship New Zealand » Why some people don’t build Earthships

Earthship New Zealand » Why some people don’t build Earthships — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:37:58 +0000

[...] Here’s someone’s honest account of why they won’t be building an Earthship in Europe. Their reasons are not insurmountable, but they highlight some interesting issues that need thinking through. http://www.fourelementshouse.com/2009/03/why-not-an-earthship/ [...]

By: Rogier

Rogier — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:51:08 +0000

@Earthship Biotecture: Having thermal mass as the outer walls, pounded into the tires is fine (as opposed to throwing the tires in landfills or burning them). But, from what I’ve seen, there isn’t much thermal mass to inner walls. A lot of cans and concrete with an adobe finish. These walls can easily be made with rammed earth or hempcrete, even dry wall with insulation.
Anyway, adapting to a different climate (governmental or otherwise) still stands to reason.

By: Earthship Biotecture

Earthship Biotecture — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:50:09 +0000

We have no plans to build with hempcrete for the internal walls, the latest designs do NOT reflect this. The best walls is thermal mass and insulation.

By: lagor

lagor — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:31:31 +0000

@Kevan: That is great news. The Earthship philosophy mustn’t be hampered by a building “regime”. One has to adapt to location and the available resources. Rammed earth is also high on our agenda. In April we’re doing a course to see what’s what.

By: Kevan

Kevan — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:29:38 +0000

Hi Rogier
As earthships develop in Europe things are evolving too. The latest designs for the earthships we are looking at building will incorporate either rammed earth internal walls or hempcrete which is proving successful in Ireland where I have just visited a house being constructed in that technique. The earthship concept needs to reflect the changing times and flexability in terms of materials and design is crucial.
Keep in touch

By: Ed Davies

Ed Davies — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:24:53 +0000

Thanks for this post. I too had thought that the burying of nicely recyclable materials (glass and cans) was a bad idea but you make a very good point about it being less inappropriate in areas which don’t have good recycling facilities.