Our story has been featured in a small, local newsletter. Click here for their facebook group where you can download the April Everything Elphinstone newsletter.I've copy-pasted the article below.
If you haven’t heard of them before, earthships are off-grid, earth-sheltered homes. The design of an earthship as an all-in-one, sustainable home is the brainchild of Mike Reynolds, an architect based in New Mexico. Many of the ideas incorporated into the design can be found in “green” architecture books from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Earthships are popping up all over Canada (including one in Petersfield, MB) and yes, they can withstand the harsh Prairie winters.
Most earthships are similarly designed: there is a long, glass wall facing South-South-East, with the glass angled to catch the winter sun to allow for passive solar gain in the winter (why pay to heat your house when you can make the sun do it for free?). The other three walls are made of tires rammed with earth and stacked like bricks. The difference between these three-foot thick walls and the walls of conventional homes is often compared to the difference between a cast iron skillet and a Teflon frying pan: the Teflon frying pan may heat up quick, but it loses heat almost immediately once the burner is turned off; in contrast, a cast iron skillet stays hot and radiates its heat to its surroundings for much longer. These tire walls are also back-buried to create almost a cave-like effect, meaning a nice, cool house in the summertime.
Energy for this type of home comes from solar panels, and rainwater runs down the sloped metal roof into cisterns where it is collected, filtered, used in sinks and the shower, used a second time as “greywater” to water planters in the greenhouse, then used to flush the toilet, and finally it leaves the house as “blackwater” where it goes to a septic tank or septic field. Building an earthship is extremely labor intensive but the end result is beautiful, practical, and best of all, no utility bills!
Sarah Plosker and Tom Gustin bought 10 acres of land near Rivers, MB two years ago with the hope of building their dreamhome on the land. The building permit has been approved and they will start their build this summer (as soon as the snow melts---possibly by the end of the month!) Anyone wishing to volunteer can email sarah.plosker@gmail.com for further information.Many people see volunteering as a great way to learn about sustainable architecture, meet like-minded people, and force their teenagers to build some character! For more information please visit http://earthshelteredhomebrandon.blogspot.ca/ or join the Manitoba Earthships Facebook group.
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