CAJ 2

Earthships

I don’t think that many of you have already heard about ‘Earthships’, but some of you could maybe imagine what it is all about.

‘Earthships’ is a project of the American architect Michael Reynolds which began to take shape in the 1970s. Earthships are radically sustainable buildings made of natural and recycled materials, such as earth-filled tires. They can also be referred to a type of a passive solar house and can be built all around the world and nevertheless provide electricity, potable water, food production in a sustained manner as well as contained sewage treatment.

Earthships’ characterization: large series of windows and the use of tires

In most cases the north, east as well as west walls are  build of used tires that contain compressed earth. The south wall, on the contrary, is almost only built of windows and used for heat production. By this means, the heat is saved within the components for weeks and therefore no classical heating is necessary.

WATER: When it comes to water supply, rainwater is collected on the roof area and simultaneously stored in cisterns. Due to an elaborate system each of the drops is used four times. The rainwater is then filtered and serves as both potable and rinse water. Besides, it is used to water the plants inside the house and in turn is used to flush the toilet. When flushing the toilet, the water is led through a septic tank into a planting bed next to the house where the remaining pollutants are eventually filtered out.

                                                a cistern in which the rainwater is stored

Electricity: As far as electricity is concerned, Earthships are designed to collect and store their own energy from a number of sources. The most energy, however, is collected from the sun and wind by installing solar panels or wind turbines. Those are either located on or near the Earthship.

Problems: However, as genius the project may sound, there still can occur some problems, especially in regions with continental climate. There condensation water constitutes the main problem. Moreover, when you live in a region where there hardly is any wind, it would be better to consider installing photovoltaic panels instead of wind turbines.