Construction Updates

Earthship Questions Answered

First of all my name is Abraham and I live about 30 miles east of EL Paso Texas. I watched your videos and I thought they were the most informative from the whole bunch I have watched. I had several questions I was wondering if you would have time to advise me on. I am planning to build a earthship home about the same style you were building yours, but I still feel short on some of the information I think I should know before starting, I checked on other websites but they don't talk much about it.
here are the questions:

1. is there a foundation on the structure? or is is built right on the ground?
2. does the first row of tires are filled with dirt o cement
3. do you put the cardboard to all the tires or just specific ones?
   
4. did you fill the holes with cans and mud?
5. do you have picture of how you added the roof?
6. what type of insulation did you use?

Thank you in advance for any information and hope to hear from you soon. My wife and I are planning to start a project like this very soon. We are about to start collecting tires and all the stuff needed.

Thank you again for your help and talk to you soon!!!

ANSWERS

1. is there a foundation on the structure? or is is built right on the ground?

Yes, there is a foundation constructed of earth-rammed tires. These tires weigh between 300-350lb each. This tire foundation, which weighs nearly 400,000 lbs., floats on the earth, thus giving the alternative home the name "Earthship" . No footer is poured for the foundation to set on. Most newer Earthship designs pour a solid concrete footer on top of the tire foundation.

2. does the first row of tires are filled with dirt o cement

Tires all all filled with dirt, small rock, and sand, any hard material that won't decompose. Results from our own research have found that utilizing carpet on the inside of tires rather than cardboard before filling with dirt will add to the structural stability of these tire blocks. This would make these indestructible bricks. Cardboard can get wet and crumbles as it dries out, causing blowouts in tires.  In blowouts we experienced, we found that air pockets that formed as a result can be filled with a mortar cement mix.

3. do you put the cardboard to all the tires or just specific ones?

All tires or the dirt would not stay in the tire row after row.

4. did you fill the holes with cans and mud?

No. Cans are only used for building mortared walls and filler between the voids of the tire wall, not for inside the tire. You also want to use dry material when packing tires. The wetter the tire amendments the more they have a chance of drying out and shrinking. This could cause moderate to severe foundation changes. It is extremely hard to find dry dirt so turning soil during dry periods does help.

5. do you have picture of how you added the roof?

Yes, this page should land on the images as well. If not, go here to view images

http://www.peacefulacreslavenderfarm.com/earthship-construction-facts.html

6. what type of insulation did you use?

I used Rigid R39 4'x8'x4" thick board doubled up to 8" thick on top of 1" deck boards. The walls use 13" thick beer bottled structure with 2" board on the outside with 1/2" OSB on the outer. Then we'll mortar the entries outside over the.

Fall 2011 Earthship Update!

Summer ends and the fall leaves have fallen so fast I hardly see where the time has gone. Since the end of our 2011 Lavender Festival we have worked non stop to complete our Earthship project. Many people have wondered why it has taken so long? Well fact is the Earthship has more intense labor and continuous labor overall to complete. This is not the traditional home which make up nearly 99% of homes. Earthships require more labor and hands to complete in a timely fashion. Here on Peaceful Acres it has mostly been help from friends and family and a few random volunteers contacting through the website. 

Now in November the Earthship has new additions. One a concrete steel dome entrance on our West side. This wall structure has nearly 100,000 pounds of concrete, sand, mortar, beer & wine glass bottles and tires packed with dirt to form a brick. We have also included nearly 300 feet of rebar to reinforce the concrete dome. The top is 4" thick and will hold it's share of weight with the strength. The south wall is 22" thick of solid concrete poured between to bottle formed wall and extends ten feet from the last wood post of the Earthship. This creates a huge chamber of insulation on our west side entrance. The North side of the concrete hall utilizes 24" tire foundation with nearly twelve feet of dirt back fill on the exterior side. Creating the most R-Value for your money. Two feet of dense packed earth or 4-6" of R19 on cheaper traditional builds. We'll be able to give good statistics in a few weeks when we receive our HOBB
Weather monitoring system. 

Utilizing the HOBO Weather monitoring system will allow us to collect daily data on the outside temperatures, humidity, rainfall, wind speed, and inside Earthship temperatures and Humidity all from a single system. This research will allow us to test outside temperatures to inside temps and the bounce between certain weather extremes. Maybe a freak -10 snow storm. I guess this would be only in my dreams in Ohio. 

Back to the Earthship progress. The restroom additions added just before the festival have been filled with solid cobb mixture poured between all 2" x 6" studs. This forms a dense mud solid brick between the studs. The finish will consist of powdered clay, fine needle straw, sand, and a little mortar. The mortar keeps the mixture from cracking or falling out of the frame. It hardens just as fast as normal mortar mix making handling much faster and building up easier.

Next we have completed 1/4 way back on the edges or East side of the Ship, also the bathroom and the utility area. This wall has been framed with post and frame instead of traditional stud framing. Not only is it stronger but can be insulated much easier with recyclable materials. Our wall has 24 glass beer bottle per row in the first  8' of the wall. All bottles are mortared with our special mud cob mixture. When all said and filled we have a 12" thick solid mud and glass insulated wall. With an additional 2" rigid insulation and then plywood on the exterior. This exterior will be lathed with wire and then concrete plastered and possible dyed  to our likings. 

The windows have also been installed but not yet completed. We will be sealing the windows in the next few days and knocking out a few odd things to complete the sealing. Our casement window utilizes a 5/8 thick gas filled insulated window and our stationary solid glass windows are 1" thick gas filled. These are all designed to insulate but allow the sun rays to heat the inside up. And the same with the summer temps, cool air in and hot air out. The simple reason why we are using the grounds steady 56F degrees to keep us cool in the summer and the suns rays warm in the winter. Natural Ac and Heat! USE IT! 

We have made some headway on the Earthship as our festival year has come to an end. Each year we do not get any time in on the progress of the Earthship due to the craziness a farm experiences during season start up. Any farmer could identify with me. Fortunately this year we have a new farm friend and helper Dale Guindon (the father of our partner Eric Guindon who manages the fields). Dale is a retiree from Morton Buildings where he worked for 30+ years! We are so happy to have him on board.

We have framed the entire dual bathroom area and roofed the top to keep the water out of the Earthship completely. The winter snow and cold weather let the ice build up in the exposed area which in the end melted and completely filled the Earthship up 3". We managed to keep the water out after the dethaw with sump pumps running everyday. Luckily we only need to refinish some lower mud plaster and had to re-dig the trench for drainage down the hallway.

Our next step will be removing the dirt between this new wall and the large room wall. The roof will be extended over this entire area giving us an additional amount of interior room space,  over 100 square feet of utility room to house a dryer, washer, and fridge. No traditional place for a refrigerator but it's about utilizing what we already have to reduce. The cold winter months will be helpful when in this back utility room which will be sealed off and colder than the entire Earthship.

The true next step will be pouring an additional footer for the utility room extension. Front casement windows will be on order along with hand built skylight counter bounce systems installed over the 4' x 4' roof windows ( definitely a plus for ventilation during cool summer days). The past three weeks in Ohio have been scorching, with temps surpassing 90 degrees for 17 straight days. We have had an additional three weeks in the 90's throughout the summer up until August 1st, 2011. With this Earthship design we should stay near 70-75 inside the structure during these hot days. Our walls are 12' deep in a hill and the highest point of the roof has some good double layer of R-39 on top. Excuse the little bit of rambling, but we are on track to prove my roof method will keep us cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

After the windows we are working to have concrete installed throughout the entire inside of the Earthship, utility room and all. From here we can run electrical wiring conduit between tire rows. The outlet boxes will be made of wood and placed inside the tire voids while we fill around them to place the outlet forms. The boxes will then have electrical boxes mounted flush (similar to drywall) and will be finished with mud cob. From here on out it's mud, mud , straw, sand, and more mud to get a finished Adobe plaster look. The majority of the work from here will be handmade kitchen cabinets out of hardwood and bathroom tile, water lines, and utilities. I would think utilities may take an additional 1-2 years before we are satisfied with the setup, something we are excited to experience and struggle with.

Stay tuned! I'll update you once we seal up the structure this fall. Working weekly to get done in 2011! Keep your fingers crossed.

Promoting Smart Building: Passing Laws to Aid Sustainable Development

Written by John Cropper

    Now more than ever, Americans understand what it means to live sustainable lifestyles. Whether it's by recycling, using alternative energy or scaling back consumption, they are finding ways in their own households to reduce their impact on the environment.

    On a larger scale, state and federal legislatures are getting on board with sustainable development by passing legislation that makes it easier to pursue development with a conscience.

    In July of 2007, the New Mexico Legislature passed a bill that greatly promotes sustainable living research and development. The “Sustainable Development Test Site Act,” or HB 269, allows for counties throughout the state to “define a new category of rules” which will apply to approved  sustainable development sites. Taos County, for example, has since started to look at how to formulate such rules. According to HB 269, approved sites would be able to conduct “sustainable development research” that might have otherwise violated ordinances that apply to other types of development.

    Amy Duke, a business manager for Earthship Biotecture in Taos, has said the company wants to break existing development codes for experimental purposes — like “installing innovative sewage treatment systems, using thin-gauge wire for electric systems and building with unconventional materials such as rammed earth or baled cardboard,” according to the Taos News.

    In short, the bill makes it easy for businesses, organizations and homeowners to build smart.

    One farm in Clinton County, Ohio is seeking to pursue similar development practices. Peaceful Acres Lavender Farm in Martinsville has contacted State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) about enacting similar legislation in Ohio. Peaceful Acres’ Mike and Kym Prell grow a half dozen varieties of lavender on their 20-acre property, and recently received grant funding through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program to plant one acre of lavender for research purposes. The Prells will research growing conditions for oil-producing lavender, with a goal of future oil production in Ohio.

    “Peaceful Acres is extremely excited for the opportunity to become an official lavender research farm,” said Mike. “This will help further our mission of providing education and being a model for sustainable agriculture.”
    If the actions of the New Mexico Legislature are any indication, Ohio farmers like the Prells could receive some help from the state to further that mission.