Earthship

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earthship in Zwolle, Netherlands
Earthship ( Global Model type ) in Taos, New Mexico
Fruit, vegetables and herbs grow in the buffer zone of an earthship
Earthship floor plan with a vertical south facade

As Earthship ( English for, Erdschiff ') building refers to a particular structure, only by solar passive heat gains and the storage of these means of mass to be heated or cooled by natural air circulation. They are also characterized by extensive use of natural and recycled building materials and their complete self-sufficiency in terms of heat, electrical energy, water and sewage.

Construction and functioning

A special feature is the use of civilization waste as a building material. The closed north, east and west walls are almost always made of used car tires. These are piled up like bricks and filled with compressed earth. The wall created in this way serves as a load-bearing component and, thanks to its large mass, usually several tons, as thermal storage. The south facade facing the sun, on the other hand, is almost completely glazed. The resulting solar heat gains are stored in the massive components for days and weeks, so that no classic heating is required.

For the self-sufficient water supply, rainwater is collected on the roof surface and stored in cisterns. Thanks to a sophisticated system, each drop of water is used up to four times. As a result, a self-sufficient water supply is possible even in arid areas with very low annual rainfall and without additional water supply from outside. The rainwater is filtered and serves as drinking or rinsing water. It then waters a planting bed in the house and is thereby cleaned. The water treated in this way is used to flush the toilet and is finally passed through a septic tank into a planting bed next to the house, where the last few impurities are filtered out by the plants.

history

The principle of the Earthships was developed in the 1970s by the American architect Michael Reynolds . It wasn't until about 30 years later that the concept spread through an increasing awareness of climate protection and sustainable building methods - also outside the United States. The buildings are designed and marketed today by Reynolds' company Earthship Biotecture in Taos , New Mexico. In addition to the planning and construction of the buildings, plans and books are also offered for self-construction.

distribution

In 2006, around 2,000 Earthships were built, with two exceptions all in the United States. At least 1,000 other buildings were based on the same principles, but were built without the involvement of Michael Reynolds or Earthship Biotecture. Since then, projects have been added in Canada, South America, the Caribbean, India and Africa. In addition to residential buildings, shelters for victims of natural disasters in Haiti and India and a Waldorf school in Sierra Leone were also built. The buildings take into account the different climatic conditions of the locations.

In Europe, buildings were realized in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Sweden, Iceland, Estonia and the Czech Republic. The first project in the German-speaking area was an Earthship in the Swabian eco-village of Tempelhof . The construction of the 180 m² pioneer began in September 2015 and was scientifically supported by the University of Stuttgart, especially with regard to the physical properties. In order to achieve planning that can be approved, unlike in a classic Earthship, the complete use of rainwater and sewage was dispensed with. Despite the limitation, all the technical systems of a typical Earthship were built in to enable a complete functional analysis. In addition, unlike previous Earthships, the building received complete, capillary-breaking floor insulation made of foam glass gravel . Since 2016 the house has been inhabited by 25 people; the construction costs amounted to 300,000 euros.

However, the transfer of the Earthship principle to the damp and cold climate of Northern Europe led to technical problems in the first projects, especially with condensation. The construction and operation of the Earthship in Brighton, UK, was therefore scientifically monitored and documented by the Center for Sustainable Building at the University of Brighton. A bachelor thesis at the Danish Via University College deals with the question of the extent to which the construction principle can be applied in Denmark's northern climate.

Systems

Water and sewage

The roof surfaces of Earthships are constructed in such a way that all precipitation (water, snow, dew and condensation) flows into a mostly underground cistern . The water is first passed through a gravel filter to prevent coarse impurities from entering the cistern. The cisterns are usually arranged in such a way that they are located in the area that has been filled up on the north side - i.e. at about the level of the interior spaces. Due to this elevated position, the water can flow downhill without an additional pump into the interior, where it is treated in the so-called "Water Organization Module" (WOM).

The WOM consists of a DC powered pump and a series of filters. Only the water that is actually used as drinking water goes through all filter stages. Therefore, every wash basin is equipped with an additional tap for drinking water. The water is pumped into a pressure vessel by means of the pump, which supplies the house network with a standard water pressure. The water treated in this way is used for all household applications - with the exception of the toilet. Only water that has already been used once from the wash basin, shower or washing machine is used, which has previously been filtered in gray water plant beds.

Gray water

Section through a gray water planting bed

As gray water is already contaminated, but not identified by fecal contaminated water that can no longer be used as drinking water. This contamination consists i. d. Usually made of non-toxic substances such as soap, skin particles or hair. In the Earthship, it is roughly filtered from fat and solids and fed into plant beds up to 150 cm deep. These beds are located inside the building directly below the glazed south facade. The plants there filter the water together with the microorganisms in the soil and use any nutrients from z. B. detergents - like phosphates and nitrogen - for their growth. They also enrich the room air with oxygen and water vapor and can also be used to produce food in the case of planting vegetables or small fruit trees.

When the gray water reaches the end of the planting bed, it collects in a reservoir and, after it has passed through another filter, is used to flush the toilets.

Black water

After first attempts with compost toilets, all newer Earthships now use this system with standard water-flushed toilets. The water contaminated with faeces is called black water . This is led outside, where it is broken down by anaerobic bacteria in an insulated and solar-heated multi-chamber septic tank . From there it is fed into a plant-based sewage treatment plant , where B. can be used for irrigation of ornamental plants or fruit trees.

Power supply

Earthships generate all of their electrical energy from photovoltaics and in some cases from small wind power . The current is stored in batteries, redistributed in the so-called "Power Organizing Module" (POM) and there -. Where necessary - in AC converted . Ideally, the most important consumers such as pumps, refrigerators and at least some lights use direct current. In this way, the basic functions of the house are retained even in the event of an inverter failure. Alternating current is used for all other applications such as computers, Internet connections or the washing machine. In order to achieve complete self-sufficiency even with relatively little battery capacity, electricity is not used for heat generation or air conditioning. Instead, domestic water is heated by solar energy and only in the case of a longer cloudy period by a wood stove or a gas boiler.

Ventilation and air conditioning

Most Earthships do not use electrical ventilation, but simply expel warm air through skylights . These are mostly simple sealed flaps that can be operated via an internally mounted cable pull and kept open by means of a counterweight. The rise of the warm air creates a chimney effect that feeds cooler air through windows or earth registers. This creates a constant light breeze in summer and dissipates excess heat. In winter, either slightly preheated air flows into the house through the ground or the inflow openings are closed during the winter months.

Depending on the climatic situation and ventilation behavior of the residents, this type of air exchange can lead to moisture problems, which is further promoted by the large number of plants in the interior. Some Earthships have therefore been retrofitted with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery .

literature

Web links

Commons : Earthship  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://earthships.paulgutches.com/faq10.html
  2. ↑ Michael Reynolds: Water from the Sky. Solar survival. 2005, ISBN 978-0-9626767-5-8
  3. ↑ Learn More. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on February 6, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.earthship.com
  4. ↑ Dustin Mulvaney (Ed.): Green Technology: An A – to – Z Guide. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks 2011, p. 142
  5. ↑ CNN Report: Earthship for Hurricane Victims in Haiti - http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/24/haiti.earthship/index.html
  6. ↑ Earthship for tsunami victims in India - http://earthship.com/category/8-india-andaman-islands-tsunami-disaster-relief.html ( Memento from June 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Freetown Free Waldorf School, Sierra Leone - http://www.goderichwaldorf.org/earthship.htm
  8. ↑ Information on Earthship in Fife, Scotland in the CIC start database for sustainable building
  9. ↑ Focus : The spaceship from the topsoil from November 26, 2016, loaded on March 31, 2017
  10. ↑ Information on Earthship in the Tempelhof Castle Community
  11. ↑ Article ( Memento of the original from August 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Earthship Biotecture Germany @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / earthship-deutschland.de
  12. ↑ Sein.de: A House Made of Garbage: Germany's First Earthship in Schloss Tempelhof , February 10, 2017, loaded on March 2, 2017
  13. ↑ Article "Performance of European Earthships - Performance
  14. ↑ Source: Thermal behavior of an earth sheltered autonomous building - the Brighton Earthship, Dr. Kenneth Ip and Prof. Andrew Miller, Center for Sustainability of the Built Environment - University of Brighton - United Kingdom
  15. ↑ Cecilia Fernandez Quintana: Earthships - Do they have a future in Denmark? (PDF; 1.5 MB) Dissertation from May 25, 2012. ucviden.dk, accessed on February 6, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Michael Reynolds: Comfort In Any Climate . Solar Survival Press, Taos, NM 2000, ISBN 0-9626767-4-8 .