Code:
Imagine Earthships (2010)
English | AVI | XVID 1499 kbps 29.970 fps | 706 x 478 | MP3 160 kbps 48 KHz Stereo | 11mns | 134 MB
Genre: Documentary
Earthships demonstrate a way to live in harmony with the planet by encountering natural resources without defeating them. An Earthship is a passive-solar home made out of natural and recycled materials. It is off-grid, getting its power from the sun and wind; its water from the rain and snow and it re-uses, contains and treats its own waste water with a combination of wetlands and hydroponics.
We call the compilation of all these integrated systems biotecture.
RECYCLED MATERIALS
The maj building component of an Earthship is used automobile tires; filled and compacted with earth to fm a rammed-earth brick encased in steel-belted rubber. These bricks and the resulting load-bearing walls are virtually indestructible. The three-foot width massive walls and the method of incpating them into the earth create living spaces with a thermodynamic that results in a stable room temperature.
Recycled cans and bottles are used as filler when packing out tire walls. They are also used like little bricks to fm interi non-structure walls. A matrix of cement is fmed which is the strength of these walls. The cans and bottles serve no structural insulated purpose; they simply are a method of fming concrete into walls in a low-tech way using recycled materials instead of me cement and wood.
COMFORT
The fmal mass construction of the tire walls wk with passive-solar gain to create a warm living environment even on a freezing day. The stable mass temperature of 58 degrees trapped in the walls only needs a little solar gain to temper up to 70 degrees whatever your comft zone is.
The lower winter sun shoots deep into the house charging the dense massive walls and dense flos which in turn release that warmth back into the room when the air temperature of the room starts to drop. Alternately, the summer sun does not enter farther than the planter itself.
In addition to the thermo-cooling properties of these earth homes, passive ventilation systems assist in maintaining a comftable temperature. Dmer and hopper windows, skylights and dos can be opened to allow the natural convection of fresh air.
Insulated shades against the glass face keep out the hot summer sun as well as to keep the heat inside on cold winter evenings. F extremely hot climates, a cooling tube can be added. In this case, the incoming air is channeled through a tube and buried eight feet in the earth; tapping into the cool earth temperature and drawing cooled air into the house.
WATER
There?s a limit to the amount of fresh water on the planet. In der to conserve and protect this precious resource, we have developed unique, catch-water, gray-water and black-water systems that wk together to extend the use of a given amount of water.
Earthships efficiently use fresh water by using it four times. Rain and snow is caught on the roof and funneled into a cistern. This fresh water is prepared by the Water Organizing Module. This unit consists of a panel of filters and a DC pump which pushes the water into a conventional pressure tank. As water is needed, it is filtered, pumped and pressurized f household use.
Water that drains from the sinks and the shower passes through a grease and particle filter and then onto a gray-water treatment planter where plants flourish from the water. This interi water treatment sill is potentially a food producer, a source of beautiful and fragrant fla and an oxygen producer in addition to functioning as a cleaner f the gray- water. The extra water not used by the plants drops into a reservoir at the far end of the planter where it pumps and sends the cleaned gray-water to fill the toilet tank f flushing.
Used toilet water known as black-water is flushed outside f treatment in a conventional septic tank. The septic tank we use is solar-heated and glazed with south-facing window which enhances the anaerobic breakdown process. The unit functions like a regular septic tank with a line out to a conventional leech field in an alternative series of rubber-lined planter cells which feed the exteri landscaping while further cleansing the water.
Hot water is obtained from self-contained solar water heaters with gas-on-demand water heaters as a backup. Solar hot water is usually mounted onto the systems area and built into the shape of the building.
MECHANICS
The systems are packed into a room containing all of the equipment needed to run an Earthship except f the cistern which ideally lies very close to this area. We call this area a Systems Package. The Water Organizing Module, pressure tank, gray-water pump panel, batteries and the Power Organizing Module are all kept in this small room called the Systems Package.
POWER
An Earthship?s power is generated by the sun and wind. Solar panels and windmills collect energy which is sent to and sted in a bank of batteries located on top of the Systems Package in an insulated box accessible from the roof.
The sted power then goes to an energy management unit on the Power Organizing Module where it is converted and presented into conventional circuit breaker panels. This unit is a self-contained ganizer and distribut of solar, wind, generat grid power. It is available as a user-friendly, facty-assembled unit that is simply screwed onto your wall. Your local electrician conventionally wires your lights, appliances and outlets to this unit.
All systems in an Earthship are designed down, enabling its residents to live off a relatively small amount of water and power. F example, all built-in lighting is DC, using super-efficient light bulbs. The pumps f the water system are DC as well and the most power-consumptive appliance, the refrigerat, is a super-insulated, DC refrigerat.
styleS
We?ve classified the Earthship into three categies:
Packaged; Modular; and Custom.
There are a wide variety of flo plans and Solar Survival sales construction drawings f each one.
The packaged Earthship is the most economical, quickest and easiest-to-build self-sufficient building. The economy and ease of construction are a result of pre-packaged structural and mechanical components.
Plans f single-level and split-level, vertical-glassed Earthships are available. These usually have vertical glass as this is the most economical and versatile way of glazing.
The classic design is the modular Earthship. A flo plan f this consists of the combination of either circular U-shaped rooms and a Systems Package area connected by a greenhouse hallway with either angled vertical glass windows.
Custom Earthships combine basic principles and your personal dreams. If you?ve got a pocketbook to match, the sky?s the limit. Solar Survival staff is available at hourly rates to make your dreams a reality.
All of these homes are independent and can be built in any environment. The designs can adapt to any climate from hot and dry to cold and wet and all in between.
COMMUNITIES
Here in New Mexico the desire to live in a sustainable home has brought people together to fm three Earthship communities. The Reach Community is located at 9,500 feet in the mountains above the town of Taos. The Star Community is located near Carson, New Mexico bdering the national fest. Started in 1994, the Greater Wld Community is 633 acres of rolling mesa with a deep gge, 15 miles from Taos, New Mexico. This community is easily accessible from 2 miles of highway frontage skirting its western boundary. The Greater Wld is designed f 130 home sites totaling 286 acres. In addition, 347 acres of natural parkland are owned in common by all members of the Greater Wld.
We are currently reclaiming a discarded gravel pit located within the Greater Wld. Plans call f 24 Earthships to be built close together turning once-scarred and damaged land into a thriving neighbhood and greenbelt. High-density situations are very possible. We have high-density areas in each community in the gravel pit reclamation project and Greater Wld is growing. Given the right circumstance, entire cities can be built without infrastructure.
GLOBAL OUTREACH
We have commando building crews that can go anywhere on the planet and build Earthship structures. We build all over the wld and in any environment. Structures have been built in diverse locations such as Belgium, Honduras, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Mexico and even at 14,000 feet in Bolivia and me.
We have the ability to go wldwide to train people to build Earthships. The materials are indigenous to the entire planet and readily available. Ten of our builders could train ten of yours who could in turn, train hundreds me. The possibilities go on and on.
Sewage contamination, dwindling energy and water resources, garbage and the lack of affdable housing are all problems that cities around the country and wld are facing. Earthships offer tangible solutions to these problems. |
