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Mother Nature Network:

Earthship Biotecture founder Michael Reynolds travels to Haiti where he hopes his unique brand of 'radically sustainable' homes can play a part in the rebuilding effort.

Read the whole story: Mother Nature Network

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Comments

[Core-Sample]

That's a nice looking earth ship, but it's gonna blow away with the first tropical storm :(

[Claw2122]

kinda weird. The 70's and 80's had us living in tall building with jet packs and flying cars

whereas today we seem to be trying to going back to living in caves.

[Blegoo]

That's a joke, right?

[Diplomacy]

With all due respect, and I know this project means well, this is exactly what the "Interim Haiti Recovery Commission" does not need nor want to happen with a whole bunch of NGO's running around Haiti doing their own "pet peeve" construction. The rebuilding of Haiti needs to be well thought out & approved before construction.

120 sq. ft. with one window & a door? How many old tires do you think are in Haiti? Are you going to import old tires? This structure reminds me of the "Colonial Day" slave huts whose remnants remain throughout the Caribbean.

Housing for Haitians needs to planned & well thought out in a coordinated way.

The sanitation, water & electricity ideas may work well, but you haven't given much information on the systems to base an opinion except "flower boxes" for the sanitation. I expect in a community you might have sewerage running all through the mud from the overflowing "flower boxes".

The "rebuilding" of Haiti must be done right!

Haitian need

[Livio Angileri]

that some news

[m1jones]

This project is environmental BeeS. This structure is not earthquake resistant or climate appropriate. Tires filled with dirt are not able to transmit lateral forces during an earthquake. It addition, the earthquake fault near Port-au-Prince is subduction which means that it will generate up and down as well as lateral motion. Humans will be crushed by the weight when these tires start sliding. Tires also burn generating aerosole pullutants. The structure is not waterproof nor mosquito resistant. A much better "of-the-earth" solution in Haiti would be bamboo tied with hemp or nylon rope. Recycling garbage doesn't work as a general rule, clever as it may look. Plastics are toxic, long term endocrine disruptors. A much better solution in Haiti would be a lightweight structure such as bamboo tied to transmit lateral loads and wrapped in a Gortex-like breathable fabric which would shed water and permit evaporation. This could be anchored to concrete posts poured in the earth to resist hurricanes. The bamboo could be rapidly growb and harvested in Haiti and would help to thwart the ongoing, devastating erosion of its top soil. Huff Post should get a knowledgeable architect and structural and environmental engineers to review these specious claims before posting them on the web site as examples to be emulated. It's called fact checking.

[Samuel Perry]

I think this earthship movement started back in the 70s or maybe earlier with people using semi-advanced building and know-how to recycle or re-purpose refuse as alternative building materials. Back then, recycling was a new idea, and people were worried about over population and giant mounds of waste that they'd need to deal with. And so along comes 'earthship' type building. Now it's a nice idea, no it's a great idea in some instances. But I'm with you. recycled tires are ok for the playground, but not the home.

Earthbag built homes can be made to be earthquake resistant in ways that even conventional building can't. The naturally durable dome shape and the simple building materials won't all just collapse. http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/earthquake-resistant-earthbag-building-details/

No I'm not an earthbag salesman..though that might be a good job path...but I haven't seen them on HP yet, and if they can give earthships airtime, I want more people to know about a system I think has even more potential.

[research]

I do like the lightweight bamboo structure your suggest.

Bamboo is being grown in Haiti. It would rapidly stabilize soil too.

still,

rubber tires will flex, throw the dirt around.

Yes they should do a shaker table test, but you can't jump to the conclusion it won't work.

and the whole toxic if burned applies to every household in the first world.

[artgurrl]

Couldn't they fit it with earthquake prevention methods? If the tires are packed tight with dirt they could run rods threw the centers or somehow prevent earthquake damage. There must be a way. You can build clay homes that are earthquake safe. An architect developed the process here in southern California.

[LightAngel]

I appreciate being introduced to the Mother Nature Network. Awesome website.

[jsarets]

This type of massive-passive construction works very well in dry climate zones with large diurnal temperature variations and relatively small seasonal temperature variations, such as the high deserts of the American Southwest, where the very heavy walls act as a "thermal flywheel" to stabilize interior temperatures through the regular daily cycle.

But Earthship construction has not performed well in temperate and continental climate zones where heating and cooling loads are seasonal or in tropical climate zones where there are persistent cooling loads and passive solar heating doesn't help.

In Europe, Earthships have had major problems with conductive heat loss during the winter and radiative heat gain during the summer.

In tropical climates like Haiti, the nights aren't cool enough to allow the thermal flywheel to work effectively. The proper strategy in this climate is high insulation (R-value) and strategic window placement/shading. Straw bale construction could be effective. I've also heard of structures built from plastic bags of sawdust.

Micheal Reynolds started building Earthships in New Mexico, where they work really well, but architecture is highly dependent on climate, and Earthships don't translate very well to climates that differ substantially from that of New Mexico.

[Tsalco]

It is so refreshing to see a rational perspective on earthships. I have often been ostracized by earthship admirers as I have mentioned some of the same points that you have made as well noting other flaws. There is much room for improvement in the concept.

There is little doubt that Reynolds has great intentions and it is wonderful to see him taking action where others, including myself, are not; however, your critique makes some important points that would be wise for Reynolds to consider. Having spent time in stifling stucco/earth buildings in the tropics, I immediately questioned the window (or lack thereof) of the design in the picture. It really needs to have MUCH better airflow and shading. Merely adding a grass roof to that structure would offer some help.

It is fantastic to help the Haitians, but it would be awful to create a building that doesn't work for the given circumstances and turns the people off to alternative buildings. All too often outsiders have come in to help people with too much of their own ideas, while not having enough understanding of the indigenous needs and lifestyle. We see all sorts of abandoned well intended projects all over Africa, and on Indian reservations. Indigenous peoples have spent thousands of years learning what is appropriate in their area. We should be looking at what they do in similar climates around the world. The bures found in the South Pacific would seem to b

[Tsalco]

Woops. Accidentally clicked the post button before finishing and proofreading.

Left out the word "placement" when referring to windows.

To finish my post:

The bures found in the South Pacific would seem to be a good starting point as they perform VERY well in similar circumstances as those in Haiti. Perhaps, combining those with the ideas of Reynolds and others could make a great structure.

I wish Michael well and hope for great success, and thank him for his efforts.

[Blegoo]

Not enough trees in Haiti to generate more that 43 bags of sawdust.

[ecoalex]

Straw bale homes.They could grow the major building material, and grow their food at the same time.

[m1jones]

Making strawbale construction earthquake resistant is massively expensive. Strawbales must be treated with a water-shedding, breathable membrane to keep from molding which would be a terrible problem in Haiti. Strawbales are no better than unreinforced concrete and we saw what happened with poorly inforced concrete in January.

[Blegoo]

Imported straw... maybe.

[ncconcernedcitizen]

That is cool

[Blegoo]

Get one!

[SavageLeto]

Micheal Reynolds is one of the most precious resources we have as a species...

Please view the documentary "Garbage Warrior"

[impatient]

I have seen the New Mexico earthships and they are BRILLLIANT. Truly brilliant. If they could establish these in Haiti, I think it would solve so many of Haiti's problems.

[Blegoo]

Yeah... let's dump all old tires in US on Haiti.
Free of charge.
And some other garbage as well.
"Garbage Warrior"... garbage solution.

[no exit]

Now that's using the old noodle and it's inspiring (to me at least) to see that Mr. Reynolds is a member of my own generation - Bravo Michael!

[Kevin Atlanta]

It's about time someone took a sustainable solution to Haiti and got the work underway. The opportunity exists to do things differently but I sure don't see any grand plan or consistent development.

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

Everyday that I express my great-fullness for the roof over my head I think about the poor people in Haiti that have basically been forgotten by the world. I'm thank full for individuals like Mr. Reynolds who doesn't just donate money but actually real solutions for the homeless in Haiti.

[Blegoo]

Not sustainable unless US is providing old tires.
Thank God, we have plenty!
Problem solved!

[IMOPINIONH8D]

Looks like a good way to deal with old tires, and be energy efficent at the same time.