An Earthship is a type of passive solar house that is made of both natural and recycled materials (such as earth-filled tires). Michael Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico, is the originator and he started out experimenting with this type of house design in the 1970’s.
Earthships are intended to be “off-the-grid ready” homes, with minimal reliance on both public utilities and fossil fuels and a high degree of self-sufficiency when it comes to water, heat and electricity.
Brighton Earthship, UK
Earthships have been built or are being built in the US, Canada, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Czech Republic, South Africa, Swaziland, Sierra Leone, Argentina, Belize, and more.
The main feature of the Earthship design is that the walls are built with old tires that are packed with earth. The house is then sheltered by earth on three of four sides to insulate the house, and the fourth side is oriented towards the sun (South in the northern hemisphere) and covered with glazing to capture the suns warmth during the day.
Earthship inside greenhouse. By Amzi Smith (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Natural convection cooling an Earthship. By Amzi Smith – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
The earthships usually use their own natural ventilation system. It consists of cooler air coming in from a front “hopper” window, or from an underground vent tube, and flowing out through one of the skylights. As the hot air rises, the system creates a steady airflow – of cooler air coming in, and warmer air blowing out.
Earthship floorplan with vertically glazed southern wall. By Felix Müller, CC BY-SA 3.0
Below you’ll find some of the best resources, videos and tips available online about earthships. If you find it useful then feel free to share this page with your friends.
General
- Earthships – Wikipedia
- Earthships – Appropredia, covers many aspects of earthship building as well as some important notes on the disadvantages of this structure design
- Earthship Pros and Cons – Archinia (A very honest and non-biased look at earthships from an architectural perspective)
- Solving the Earthship Enigma – Followup article to the one above on pros and cons, highly recommended
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Earthship Academic Research Overview, in Plain English – A summary and listing of the most important academic and professional research they’ve found pertaining to earthships.
- Case Study: How We Built Our Earthship, an Off-grid Prairie Home
- Case Study: 5 Northern Greenhouse Examples for Cold Climates (including an earthship greenhouse)
Design Principles
- Thermal & Solar Heating and Cooling
- Solar & Wind Electricity
- Contained Sewage Treatment
- Building with Natural & Recycled Materials
- Water Harvesting
- Food Production
How-to
- To learn more about Earthships, the best place to start is at the origin, and that’s Michael Reynlods and his design firm Earthship Biotecture.
Videos
Case Study
The family of the editor and production manager of Green Energy Futures, Duncan Kinney, built an Earthship. Here’s how these radically sustainable homes are built and how they work. Read more about it in this article.
Earthship Tour with Kirsten Dirksen
Kirsten Dirksen visits the desert mesa of New Mexico, where Tom Duke takes us on a tour of “his home, his original “Earthship survival pod”, the “nest” ($50,000 studio apartment), the “Simple Survival Earthship” (aimed mainly at the developing world), a custom home designed to feed a family of four (including a tilapia pond in the greenhouse) and the “BMW of Earthships”, the “Global” (aimed at the typical American family).”
More good videos:
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Earthships 101 Part 1 – Earthship Biotecture
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Earthships 101 Part 2 – Earthship Biotecture
Featured photo is an earthship in Taos, New Mexico, taken by Biodiesel33 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Have any questions or comments about earthships? We’d love to hear from you below!
