First Aluminum Can House In the early seventies the can companies came out with aluminum cans.  They would last forever unlike the old steel ones.  Soon they were everywhere;  on every street, road, and alley;  and in every park and parking lot all over the world.  The can companies had created my next building material. […]

Floor Plan, Section, Elevation and Door Study. Tropical Earthship Design for Haiti Earthship School.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rvq1c84-ZI NBC Chicago – In Taos, New Mexico, a team is building a model of self-sustainable, off-the-grid living called Earthships. The concept was pioneered by Michael Reynolds 50 years ago and has been evolving ever since. He said the structures meet the six key human needs by providing shelter, water, food, energy, sewage treatment and […]

St. Albert Today – In an effort to escape the rat race, the Stolz family moved to rural B.C. and built their own sustainable, solar-powered home. For the past 10 months, the Stolz family has been waking up to earthen floors and cob walls in their hand-built sustainable home near Golden, B.C. They don’t have […]

Pyramid made of recycled aluminum cans, aligned true north. 1980s

This is a page to explain why building with tires is safe. The “off gases” are worst when tires are new. Old tires, buried in dirt and locked in concrete are safe for dwellings. We have several studies that have done in depth researches, here is one of them: This is an extensive study by the […]

Hi! I’v been on here for sometime now and decided to post my first thought, hoping to get some feedback and advice, I’ll try to be as clear and short as possible. I’m Ronald, 26, from New Jersey, US and currently living in New Zealand. By the time i head into any form of education […]

https://d334d4qdfk61ge.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/CALIU-EARTHSHIP-HOTEL.mp4 In February of 2019, Earthship Biotecture conducted an Earthship Academy for more than 60 students who gathered near Colonia Del Sacremento, Uruguay. A Star studded Earthship Crew tie Lou, Rory, Phil, Harry, Mo, Spider, Ralph, Dan, Michael and so many more and with the students focused on learning all about Earthships from the legends […]

Jim Gagnepain calls it “the little bermed house on the prairie.” He and his wife, Stephanie, built their retirement home in eastern El Paso County. Jim, who has a background in electrical engineering, acted as general contractor, and he and Stephanie did a lot of the work. The result? A unique, almost completely self-sufficient bermed […]

Passive House Buildings There is absolutely no cutting back on comfort; instead the level of comfort is considerably increased. A Passive House / Building is a building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Passive House / Building is not a brand name, but a construction concept that can be applied by anyone and that has stood the […]

These walls systems are all solid walls made out of dense materials, of which the modern Brick, Block and poured concrete walls are the most common variety. Since these common variants are all have very low R-values, a fairly high embodied energy, and are familiar to most people, this discussion is about alternatives to those. […]

Big cities and luxuries aren’t for everybody. If you’re someone who enjoys the outdoors and a simple life, maybe its time to consider moving off the grid. Its not just for criminals anymore. The Homes and Garden TV network has a show where regular couples and families looking for an adventure rent or buy a […]

The same method for building structural walls in buildings can be applied when building retaining walls made with rammed earth encased in steel-belted rubber. Depending on the load the retaining wall is retaining, the batter and other adjustments should be considered. Some tire retaining walls have been built up to 25 ft. high.  Tires make an inexpensive solution that requires […]

Tire walls are made by laying tires in staggered courses like bricks or concrete blocks. Each tire is filled with compacted earth, so that it becomes a rammed earth brick encased in steel belted rubber, about 95% compacted. A pounded tire weighs over 300 pounds, therefore, all tires are pounded in place and are NOT […]