Building An Earthship In Darfield, B.C.

We are a family of five living in Darfield, BC.
Our house is six hundred square feet in total and we are feeling cramped.

We have decided to build an earthship!

So starts the adventure ...

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Earthship Resources

Some of the books I have found useful in this project:

  • Earthship Volumes I, II and III by Michael Reynolds - These are definitely the starting point.
  • Comfort In Any Climate by Michael Reynolds - Good background information but not as ueful as the Earthship Volumes in my opinion.
  • Create an Oasis with Greywater by Art Ludwig - Excellent resource on grey water recovery.
  • Builder's Greywater Guide by Art Ludwig - A supplement to Create an Oasis with Greywater. This book covers permitting of greywater systems.
  • Earth Sheltered Houses by Rob Roy - An excellent reference for earth-sheltered houses, easy to understand and lots of practical building advice.
  • Water Storage by Art Ludwig - Good resource on water storage.
  • The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect's Sketchbook by Malcom Wells - Considered one of the early pioneers in earth-sheltered housing. I found this book interesting, but not as valuable as Earth Sheltered Houses.
  • Undergrond Houses: How to Build a Low-Cost Home by Rob Roy - An excellent book, but it is all covered and more in Earth Sheltered Houses.
  • Principles of Ecological Design: Integrating Technology, Economics and Ecology by Art Ludwig - An interesting book, but not immediately relevant to building your own home. If you have already commited to building an Earthship you can probably skip this one ...
  • Water From the Sky by Michael Reynolds - I have not read this one yet but just received a comment from a reader about grey water saying that this book goes into detail about the grey water and black water systems of an earthship. I have not been able to find a copy in the library, so I may have to buy this one ...
Web sites ...
  • www.earthship.net - Home of earthship Biotecture
  • www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/zent0212w.html - Article on the building of an earthship
  • www.touchtheearthranch.com -website of an earthship builder
  • www.bluerockstation - website of an earthship builder
  • http://www.earthpower1.com - website of an earthship builder. Very good notes on his construction process.

I will add more resources as I see them.

Let me know of anything you think is worth adding to the list!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. I just came across your site and will be watching your progress closely. I live in Calgary and hope to begin building an earthship in the next few years. I'm interested to see how you folks make out. I'll try to come by the blog every few weeks to see what's new.

Hopefully I'm not double-posting, but I don't think my original one went through...

Nicole said...

Hi,
Love your blog, I am a new comer to the earthship concept and am totally obsessed. You've got some awesome details here and I've been checking your site out often.

(Quick note, your link for Blue Rock above does not have a .com after it)

I would love to drop by in late August on my way through from PG to Penticton, to check out a sample of my future!

Thanks again,
Nicole in Prince George

Sandra said...

Hi Nicole,

We welcome visitors/volunteers but would prefer to tee up times rather than have people just drop in (we are sometimes NOT here!)

Please email me at sandra@northriverloghomes.com and we can chat.

Brian in Napanee Ont said...

Hi you have a great site. I love your tire compactor what a great invention. I have been following earthships for a while & been in the Potters home here in ont.You have good details about the reality of construction & the costs. I would like to follow your site through and see your home finished.