Earthship Ahoy!

This summer I visited the Brighton Earthship, one of the most sustainable forms of housing being designed to be completely "off grid" in terms of energy, water supply and sewerage. The earthship concept comes from the US, and, according to its promoters, Earthships Biotecture, they are "self contained dwellings that will sail on the seas of tomorrow". Hmm.

The building is built into a hillside using scrap tyres rammed with earth to form the back wall and provide 'thermal mass' to store the sun's energy through the night. This is much better than the normal way of creating thermal mass - pouring loads of concrete - but it caused a bit of a problem with the authorities as scrap tyres are officially a 'waste material'. Fortunately the Environment Agency looked fondly on the project and gave the developers a waiver.

Rainwater is harvested and greywater treated inside the building by the plants you can just make out through the side window. There's plenty of provision for renewable energy - solar PV, hot water and a wind turbine. The wood burning stove inside is rarely used as it makes the building too hot. Composting toilets are stationed outside.

I like the futuristic external appearance - a nice departure from the 'Swedish chalet" look of many eco-buildings, and the interior has a fantasticly airy feel about it. I wish I had the time and money...