Tuesday, September 6, 2011

testing materials: Earthship




We are planning to build an Earthship on the land in the next couple of years (hut/nest style). Here are some pictures of where I have started testing some of the materials for a toilet facility inspired by Earthship Haiti. The facility is on the back-burner for now, until we get the house winterized and after I've stepped further into the permit process. I had some better pictures of this after it dried, but I can't find them right now. Maybe I will post them later.

The Earthship Haiti toilet is pretty simple. It has a simple shower and a toilet. It catches its own water on the roof for the facility. Used water is then filtered through constructed wetland
Our land is close to the river, so we have some natural deposits of sand. I wanted to see how our local sand (after we sifted it) would do in the cement mix, and if the humidity here would make a difference in how it dried. It dried hard and there is no cracking.

As I was working with and researching the cement I began to wonder more about natural, local building materials. I would like to attend a workshop in the midwest with someone who has built entirely out of natural materials such as adobe. Earthships use adobe inside but not outside. How much weight can adobe support and how does it hold up to different elements? I am looking into visiting Dancing Rabbit ecovillage in Rutledge, MO, sometime soon and hope to get a chance to ask some of the builders there about their experiences with natural, local materials.

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