Earthship Seminar 2009 with Michael Reynolds

The following videos are the seminars from 2009 which Michael Reynolds did about Earthships. If you are interested in this kind of housing, watch! If you want to learn about them watch! If you are sick to death of living to work, watch!

Earthship Seminar Part 1




Earthship Seminar Part 2

Earthbag Earthship... a Gaia Mount

The use of earth requires only bags in which is filled with soil, sand, and a lime with water. They are tamped down then allowed to dry. This is far lower impact on the body so that anyone can build the structure who can lift a filled coffee can of dirt and can use a tamp to help compact the earth. complex forms can be created that only require wood to create forms to support them until they are dried. You are still building with major thermal mass which will work as a heat sink and cooling system.

I have been doing an amazing amount of research over the last few years. I have fallen completely in love with both Earthbag and Earthship homes. What have I concluded? My partner and I are going to build an earthbag earthship I'm calling a Gaia Mount.

The basic structure of the home will be build from the use of Super Adobe technology which was developed by Nader Khalili and taught through the Cal-Earth Institute of Earth Art and Architecture. I want to use the form of Earthships which has been developed by Michael Reynolds and his company Earthship Biotecture.


Put into the form of an Earthship you have a home that is earth bermed, front faced with glass as a green house, roof which gathers your water into cisterns and is used 4 times before being returned to the earth, and the use of renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc.).

Building in this way very little resources are needed, cost decreases, and the building skills needed to build a home is placed back into the individuals hands instead of a costly contractor. The major of the work can then be done by two or more people instead of an army of workers.

All the while we are building home that is self sustaining, that feeds us, waters us, and provides us with power and shelter. So stay tune. We are currently working on some basic plans which we will take to Earthship Biotecture to create full construction plans so we can then start looking for land and get approval for building.

A look at China's ancient 'donut-like' homes

          I am always on the look out for new ideas when it comes to earth building. Here is one that is most interesting. The ancient China's rammed earth round or 'donut-like' homes. These consist of multiple levels with a kind of central court. These are really awesome.

          Take the time to read this article. It is really interesting. This could be a great way of using the Superadobe technique of building to make a larger structure for a small village or town taking up the least amount of space while still building with earth. It is something I am going to explore more with the idea of building the sustainable Druid community.

China's ancient 'donut-like' homes: Where to see the tulou

Organic Designs with Cod, straw bale, and Superadobe....

          One of the most wonderful aspects of building with earth and/or straw is the amazing flexibility which the materials have. Take a look at this image and see how an organic shape such as a shell has been turned into an addition onto the house. What a stunning idea and wonderful way to add character to your living space.

         This is something I will have to look at when building the Superadobe home!

Videos on actually building Superadobe structures as created by CalEarth

Here are some videos I found on YouTube of the actual process of building the CalEarth Superadobe structures. They are very informative and shows just how simple building with this technique really is. Image the lack of dept Americans could relieve by building this way. Image mortgages dropping well under $15,000 while using earth to build with very little else. Image being able to free up all the resources that go into modern homes. Image being able to leave our forests alone so they could do the job our Earth Mother planned for them to... clean the air and provide oxygen to other life forms.

Take a look... this is my dream. This is the home one day I will have. This is the way I want to build a sustainable Druid community.

Part 1


Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5

Earth homes...

It amazes me that in the world we live in that more people don’t seek to build through abundant local resources that could dramatically change the future of those living within them and the environment around them.

Building superadobe and mud homes is considered private to most of us. But they are the most resistance, durable, and low cost building materials in the world. They provide protect from the temperatures changes and weather. As for heating and cooling, that is done over all passively through the very structure itself. They can be designed to work in extremely wet and cold climates just as effectively as in hot dry climates.

Here is a small example of one nation which still uses ancient techniques to build their earth homes.

Gurunsi Earth Houses of Burkina Faso

Aquaponics... this is something to really look into!

          I am always on the look out on ways to help make my dream of a sustainable community come true. Aquaponics is a great way to help that come about. I found an article on Pinterest where a guy had created the neatest Aquaponics idea I have seen so far!

          What he created was a Tilapia Pond, 4000 gallon tank in the middle of his green house will hold 2000 Tilapia, the water will be used to water his plants giving them needed nutrients. The heat from the pond will warm the greenhouse in winter. This is a wonderful idea that benefits the whole ecosystem of the green house. To learn more about what is happening with this check out the site: Remote Gardner

          There is a place in Atlanta GA that uses something similar though at a much lower fish population. They use their pounds to help with the humidity and heat within the green  house itself. The place is called the Atlanta Water Garden. I have always loved going into the gardens there. It always makes me feel so relaxed. The trickling of water, the splash of fountains, and the smell of all the plants is just amazing.

          If you live or are visiting the area check them out.  You won't be disappointed in the environment they have created there at their store. They do offer their services to the public as well as offering a staggering selection of indoor and outdoor gardening and fountain supplies. Atlanta Water Gardens

                       

I found a great site that helps explain how the Aquaponics system works. The more I read about this the more I want to use this in the Community. I believe it will be a great source of both vegetables and protein.
Check out the article. It really is pretty amazing how this works. Once setup and running they need very little water or work to maintain. "How Aquaponics Works"

New BIO-Engineering Techs

I am always looking for some great ideas for the community. There are several in this article on Popsci.com

Check it out! There is even a guided growth 'tree' house! I so nerded out on this article!

This is well worth checking out. This could be a great idea for growing some of the buildings as experiments for the community. I am so excited!!!

Why do people think you must go primitive to be green?

         I was talking with some friends yesterday about the sustainable living Druid community I want to build. They were extremely excited to see I was interested in it and started talking about going totally primitive. They were not the first people who immediately responded this way to my idea.

          So Why do people think you must go primitive to be green? I mean really... there is no need at all to go back to the 1800's way of living to be green. I am not really sure why anyone would WANT to go back to a private way of living.

          In this day and age people can live a green sustainable life while still having modern conveyances. To be off the grid you use modern renewable energy sources like wind turbines, solar panels, bio-diesel fuels, and hydro power turbines. The modern improvements give much more efficient power generation. And for appliances, we have energy star certified things or when it comes to a refrigerator there are propane powered units, etc.

          So again I ask "Why do people think you must go primitive to be green?" What a ridiculous idea! Now if you WANT to go primitive... sure go right ahead but I do tend to like things like running hot water, indoor plumping, internet, things like that.

Gathering rain water... water cisterns

          I live in an area where it rains pretty regularly but there are times during the summer when we will go weeks without rain. This can cause a major issue with watering food crops, animals, and the like. The best way I can see to help with this is through water cisterns.

          I have seen many different types of cisterns; underground, barrels, above ground large cisterns. But they all do the same thing, they collect water from roofs. The rain runs off the roofs into gutters which then funnel the rain into pipes which then carry it to the cistern itself. I really do see this as a great way to gather rain water for green house and for animals.

Great Article on building low cost earth homes...

Here is a great article on building 'Dirt Cheap' homes. The article gives a lot of wonderful ideas on what to consider when building an earthen home. I really found it very informative. Check it out!

How to Build Dirt Cheap Houses

Glass Blocks/Bricks.... natural light source?

          One of the ideas I keep playing with is the use of glass blocks/bricks being embedded in the Superadobe walls as a source of natural light. I have seen tons of images where colored wine and beer bottles are used as decoration and lighting with cod and adobe homes. So would this work well for the use of some natural light sources that didn't require large windows?

          I think this could really help open the home to pools of natural light that can really add to the ambient feel of the home or structure. I know that in general glass blocks/bricks provide pretty good thermal insulation as well. I would really rather use this kind of option and the use of sky lights. With the way the Superadobe structures are build it would be easy to just embed the blocks/bricks directly into the structure of the walls as they are being built. This was require only that they be sealed with a waterproofing agent to prevent leakage from any water or rain that might be on them. 

          Another great use would be for exterior walls. This would also allow for light to come through while still providing privacy to a degree. The other nice thing is it adds a great aspect of color and beauty.

          With the addition of glass, both clear and colored, in bottles and in blocks/bricks, the already stunning structures that can be made with the Superadobe building technique will be enhanced great.

Garden Instead of Lawn

          This is a wonderful idea to have instead of a lawn. Imagine growing all the food you could want in your front and back yard instead of having a lawn you have to mow. This will also help cut down on your grocery bills!

          Gardening really is not as hard as some like to think it is. As long as you read about the amount of light and right about of water plants will grow. So think about replacing your yard with a raised box garden like this! Plus your vegetables will be market fresh and YOU will decide what goes into growing them. This can help allow families who want to eat more organic foods afford to do so. Plus you are adding more green to the world... which will help the planet!

          The important thing about doing this for the Community would be that it helps even more for us to increase the amount of foods we grow ourselves. This will reduce the costs to the community, it will reduce the costs of farming, transportation costs from purchased foods and all of this will help decrease green house emissions resulting from these.

Heating Ideas

          I have been talking with my friend Crisy how is a civil engineer. She suggested a few ideas on heat that are really great ideas and will change some of the design ideas I have for the Super-adobe structures.

          The first is instead of the fireplace being on the outside of each dome have one central mutli-opening fireplace. The fireplace could be a central adobe tube which the three larges domes butt up too. This would allow for each dome to have an opening on the fireplace while the heat from the fire pit and chimney radiate into the structure of the Super-adobe speeding the heating process and allowing for a much more even ambient heat. Of course this then REALLY gives the nice effect of seeing fire from any major room.

         The other idea was to have a mini green  house off each of the kitchens on the southern side. This was in effect work as a natural solar heater as well. The glass of the green house would amplify the light coming through which will heat the surrounding air and stone. That in turn will radiate out through the house. So not only do you get the added heat but you also gain a great source of natural light while having a place to grow plants and herbs.

(images created by me on Note 2)

Calearth Workshops

          So I am going to start looking into the Calearth workshops for next year. The week long session is the one I would like to take. I think that would give me a good grounding in building the Superadobe style. The week long session is $1,600:

Upcoming Workshop Dates:
2012-2013
Workshop Dates:

Four Day Workshops
December 5-8, 2013
February 20-23, 2013
July 10-13, 2013

One Week Workshops
November 5-10, 2012
March 18-23, 2013
April 20-27, 2013
May 20-25, 2013
June 17-22, 2013

They have camping on-site as well as the emergency shelters they have build for those that want to stay. I think I might just stay on-site so I would not have to worry about a hotel, rental car and that extra cost. Though I might just want that as well. Will have to look into the weather during whichever time I could go.

Here is the schedule of classes being taught:

Topics Covered:

• The principle of the arch
• Superadobe basics
• Soils practicum and discussion
• Super-adobe with stabilized earth
• Plaster workshop with stabilized earth
• Learning to read blueprints, elements of design, placing windows and doors
• Contrasting domes with vaults, vaulted roofing system, dome geometry
• Site planning, orientation, simple solar passive strategies
• Compass theory and application
• Waterproofing, foundations
• Ceramics discussion and Introduction
• Building with brick

Land... what a chore!

          So I have started the chore of looking for land again. There are far more options than I dreamed possible. There are tons of options in the surrounding counties just in the state of Arkansas. I have also started looking in northeast Oklahoma and in southwest Missouri. All these areas would be about 30-60 minute drive from my work.

          I know there needs to be farm land (food and animals), there needs to be flat land for homes as well, there needs to be year round running water, and most important for the immediate future is access to city water and electricity. So a hunting we will go! I would ideally like 150+ acres.

          More updates as I go along.

Note to self: wording... all about wording

          So I have started asking questions on subjects I know are going to be touchy with most people. WOW I was so totally not prepared for the blasting and responses I have received at ASKING a question. What I am finding though through all the YOU SHOULDN'Ts and the HOW DARE YOU's is this: when working on the Community Covenants the wording will be extremely important. Perhaps more important than anything else centered around the community.

          It is strange to me how people revert childhood states of rebellion even at the mention of words such as 'required'. I wonder if it strikes a cord from their past when they were told they 'had' to do something. Either way I will have to strive to be extremely creative with wording things when it comes to the documentation of the Community.

My Little Homestead

Here is one of the families I have found so inspirational when doing my research on building in the superadobe or earthbag construction method. They are on Youtube.com under the user name mylittlehomestead.

There are many techniques they use in their more tradition styled home that can and will apply to the construction of this community. They also have their own site at www.mylittlehomestead.com

They have used things use as the radiant flooring in their earth-crete floors. This is run off a recycled motor home hot water heat system and a propane tank, much like one used on a grill. A very good resource for those really seeking to live a more earth friendly and sustainable life style.

Wind Power Generation

Sail-inspired wind turbine doubles efficiency without blades

          I am all about tech helping us live better and reducing our foot print on the environment. This is one of those techs that could really be a game changing in the field of renewable resources that also reduces the damage and danger to nature and wild life. You will find I will be post a lot more of this kind thing as I find them. Check it out!

New wind power!!! This is awesome!

Wind power is a source here in the Midwest that should be harnessed whenever possible since there is typically a great deal of wind. This new technology could seriously pave the way for making communities like this one becoming even more sustainable and helping them be able to put power onto the grid.

That is where I would like to see this community, lowering power usage through energy efficient technology and generating an over abundance of sustainable energy which can then be sent back onto the grid.

Bio-Fuel

When looking into building this community I have been researching all kinds of power sources. One for things such as farm equipment and vehicles, along with generators, is the use of Bio-Diesel. This is something that is extremely cheap and easy to create through the use of recycled cooking oil from restaurants.

Many times you can get the used oil for free. I have seen places offering to give away 50 gallon barrels of used cooking oil. Some require a deposit for the deposit and will deliver for a small fee. But think about it.

'If you are collecting used fryer oil from 6 restaurants and each one averages a 55 gallon drum of oil per month, you can make 330 gallons of fuel per month, 3960 per year. If you save $2.50 per gallon you will save $9,900 per year. That is a HUGE savings!' Azure Biodiesel Company

This then becomes a powerful tool for a community trying to become sustainable and becoming as green as possible. Since this kind of fuel can be used in any diesel burning system it really does open up major avenues.