Engineer Living in a Beautiful Earthship Shares Valuable Insight!
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- čas přidán 29. 11. 2019
- Mark is a structural engineer who works on alternative structures and is currently the caretaker of the Darfield Earthship in BC. He's been living there for nearly 2 years, and is also in the process of designing several Earthships so he is an incredible resource. We're grateful that we had a chance to spend an afternoon picking his brain about his experience living in an Earthship, and learning how they can perform in Canada's extreme climate (spoiler alert: it varies!).
If you'd like to get in touch with Mark or follow his work, you can find him online and on Instagram here:
www.metaphystations.ca/
/ metaphystations
Our Earthship Video Playlist:
• Earthships
A special thank you to Chris and Sandra for letting us film their Earthship, and to the team at Associated Engineering for letting us show off their energy modelling skills!
The Darfield Earthship:
www.darfieldearthship.com/
Associated Engineering Energy Modelling:
www.ae.ca/
Thanks for watching!
Mat & Danielle
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Blog: www.exploringalternatives.ca
Facebook: /exploringalternativesblog
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CREDITS
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Music & Song Credits:
All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives.
Editing Credits:
Mat and Danielle of Exploring Alternatives
Filming Credits:
Mat of Exploring Alternatives
Energy Modelling Clips provided by Associated Engineering
www.ae.ca/ - Jak na to + styl
This guy was refreshingly self aware and honest about the building style he is into.
Andrew Gedman
Agreed. Very pragmatic.
@@CITYBORNDESERTBRED isn't that expected?
Jonathan Blanchard was it my use of pragmatic? Lol
@@CITYBORNDESERTBRED no, honest and detailed is expected, but what is often gotten off the media is a sales pitch, sometimes slow sometimes fast.
@@jonathanblanchard6480 oohhhwww
This guy provided some insights never mentioned in any of the dozens of other videos on earthships that I have watched. Some of those things may be intuitively obvious to some folks, and also will vary with location. He mentioned building codes, and possibly being required to hire various licensed (and therefore probably expensive) professionals such as electricians, engineers, architects, etc., even though the builder may have those skills. Some of those requirements stem, I suspect, from the ignorance of most regarding the earthship technology and from the fact some people may start such a project with only their dreams to guide them.
I find earthships fascinating and holding so many potential solutions for our future lifestyles, and I would dearly love to experience a few. Ditto cob houses and tiny homes.
Me too.....!
Some people call these houses ecological. No, houses made from toxic materials = used cracked/destroyed old car tires ... are not ecological. Also, talking as an engineer I must warn you that these structures cannot be measured in the case of an earthquake. Of course an irresponsible "professional" can take the responsibility of the structure but that doesn't mean you are safe!
I am not against ecological houses. Look around you the earth is full of ecological materials why using toxic ??? ... I really cannot understand that
I wonder if he was the engineer for some of this. Those letters at the end of his name mean he can sign plans.
@@rpatrick2 All the bridges that fell down are signed by engineers.
@@GREEKTEDDY People make earthships from tires because they're a waste product that can be productively reused instead of just going to a rubbish tip. Reusing waste that has already been created and will not otherwise be reused or recycled IS ecological. What would you prefer we do with all the used tires? Can't burn them without releasing awful smoke, landfill is a stop-gap that causes its own problems - what would your solution be, aside from using them in homes that aim to have a neutral energy cost through their lifetime and reduce the need for new materials going into home building?
This was quite possibly the best video on an Earthship I've ever seen. I liked his rational and candid approach to most of the real issues, demysticized some of the romantic ideas, highlighted some unforseen benefits. Very interesting. I appreciated his willingness to accept and acknowledge a lot of the shortcomings of this life.
Refreshingly honest. The most accurate earthship videos feature:
1. People who didn't build them
2. People who didn't buy them
3. People who don't have to live in them forever
Terrible thinking.
@@michalviktorin6758 Why?
Question what I questioned, not me.
@@michalviktorin6758 Well that's what random did. Now answer the question.
🤣😂 @
Alpa cino
Always refreshing to see these videos when they're about someone who is honest about the whole thing, and isn't just feeding you some kind of alternate-lifestyle narrative.
9/10 of these videos are just people selling some false story about their living circumstances. Someone pretending to live some whimsicle off-grid lifestyle, but if you check out their social media, they live in their tiny house trailer on their brother-in-law's yard.
Pretenders
His explanation was extremely well done!
Thank you mark for being so honest and clear about the realities of earthships!
I enjoyed this style because it didn't glorify the mistakes and shortcomings. In that regard, it was much more informative than those that do. Also, having the insights of an Engineer involved in the actual process and day to day actions of bringing something like this to life is huge. +1 , sub from me.
I would use a cement block retaining wall filled with concrete and rebar and insulated with rock wool board. I would use vertical windows with an overhang. I like the skylights in the back. Most Earthship appear too dark in the back. They could have finished over those bottle and can walls with just a few more man-hours labor.
Thanks for a great video. I think the main reason there is such a temperature differential in this building is the fact that this earthship example doesn't have the interior glazing - the secondary glazing - which means it lacks the insulation/isolation, thermal gain and convection provided by the trombe wall effect. Also it lacks the green roof (only 25% of the roof is covered with soil) so this example doesn't benefit from the insulation of that soil layer. The skylights look like they may lose a lot of energy too.
My friends and I helped Chris and Sandra, the owners, to build a small part of this. I thought for sure it would be finished by now. That said, it is still a very cool structure. I much prefer the Global model of Earthship over this version, having helped build both types. You can build them anywhere, but they're definitely better in certain climates.
I saved pictures of this a few years ago, I'm thankful to see the interior!
Glad to hear that Mark took the opportunity to homestay at the place. Thank you for sharing.
I love the timbers, the windows and the curvy forms inside. You are so lucky to live here as a test.
one of the best videos about earthships I've watched over the years
Very honest view at the Earth Ship model. So many videos are just about it being perfect with no worries. It's nice to hear that serious thinking has to go to designing it for the climate and that it might not be cheap as one would think.
Great information - thank you to the gentleman giving the tour.
Great to see an honest review of things... its these sort of videos that progress this type of building.
I love this! EarthShips are like my dream home. I can't wait until I have saved up enough money living in a van to build an EarthShip.
Hes very informative and anwsers so many questions I would think of.
Thank you for not over producing this! It was easy to take in :)
This video is fantastic. Many thanks to Mark for sharing so much wisdom.
I have never heard of an earthship. This is so impressive and inspiring. My ideal hopes of sustainable living
Ronnie Wildheart
You will want to watch more earthship videos because they are awesome living homes! 🤗
You two always find such interesting places!
Thanks Carole :)
Este es el tipo de videos que necesitamos ver para pasar del concepto a la práctica. El modelo de Reynolds fue mejorando a lo largo de los años e incorporando mejores prestaciones, de todos modos considero invaluable el contenido de este video. Felicitaciones.
I prefer the newer designs with a sort of garden barrier before you get into the living space.
Yep the same. Nice chap explaining though
I think more utility to grow your own veg etc, i do like gardening too lol
@@Nexus-ub4hs Agreed
I think that was the intention here, they show the diagram at 9:07 and talk about the unfinished planter trench
@@thefrub It is more than a trench, it is more like walking through a hot house before entering the main house.
*+Remy Lebeau*
They're not so much "new" design as just standard. This home was going to have that, as you can see it in the plans, and he actually talks about that in the video.
This was super helpful. We're looking into building an Earthship style building so it's great to hear some honest assessments on what does and doesn't work well.
Out of all of the video's on you tube i have watched on Earthships over the years this one is very informative in the context of an actual engineers perspective not just the average lay persons staying at the actual property getting to know the structure and the faults that are hidden until you live there. Seeing the early version Earthship without the front greenhouse to give that extra leveling effect of the temperature is extremely important to know if you are going to embark on a project also Mark said that you have to take into consideration where you are going to build the Earthship and one silver bullet isn't going to fit all if you are going to build one then i personally would look at geothermally heating the air in the winter if you can dig deep enough and lay slinky style tubing. I think in the more modern one's you can see that heat can be retained more evenly and privacy a lot better through out i can only hope that this old design can be updated to a more modern design if that is what the owners want. brilliant video thanks for the content.
Very nice to hear the pros and cons of these buildings. The issue of code compliance is an important one and you gave great information from an engineering stand point. Mortgages, insurance and resale value are all closely entwined with this. I am more and more convinced that building in a way that is code compliant is the way to go. What I mean by this is to build post and beam style (which is code compliant) and then
supplementing that building with aspects of earth ships, passive solar and straw bale in that construction. Especially if you have access to such great beams as was used in this house.
Bravo for the honesty.
I love this channel, I cant wait to find my own creative space in this world...
Awesomely honest insights. Thanks for the interview!
Honest opinions and information from someone with real knowledge.
Was awesome!! whoo hoo congrats guys on the 1Mill Subs coming up..Been with yas since the very start..
Marks given a true representation of the hassles getting approval and good and bad with the concept. Very good interview, I did a ICF home 13 years ago and its fantastic but likes to stay cool and thats its biggest disadvantage in winter, its never as cold as a normal house but it still requires heat in a mild climate
I love the concept of such amazing idea of integration. This is not for a Decoration magazine, it’s for LIVING real in touch with Natural environment!
I watched them build this and the permaculture outside. I would love to see it finished but I’m happy the family is having adventures!
So much information! Thank you!
I stayed in one in Taos, these are magnificent dwellings!!
I passed by those - some of them look like something out of Star Wars! So cool.
Jenna Miller
Were you able to hear every little noise in the earthship like he said, since the floor and walls are hard surfaces, so it has echo? The bathroom is noisy?
I love the idea of an earthship otherwise.
@@goodliving2171 Yeah... everybody can hear your melodies.
Nice to see it when it finished...
Good to hear a more balanced review of the details
This is also so informative in talking about energy model software and such! So important! He should make more videos!
Thanks for explaining so many of the hurdles and some of the social experience of living there. Someone started one here in Philadelphia (West I think) and couldn’t get the okays from the zoning board. I’ll have to explore the modeling tech. Great video.
This was so interesting and informative. Great video. Thanks
As always, thank you for this informative video! :)
Very clearly spoken, nice job.
This is amazing!!! I love the earthship concept!
I appreciate his honest comments about the temperature plus heating cooling. I think I'd add in better heating, cooling and dehumidifying solutions for my climate. I think sometimes the principles might need some assistance.
Fascinant! J'ignorais l'existence de ce genre d'habitation. Vidéo très professionnelle, notamment l'utilisation du drone. Bravo!
Very cool! Thanks for sharing all this important info 🙂🙂
This was awesome, thanks for sharing ❤
It always cracks me up when I see the smartest, the brightest of each generation... working so incredibly hard to return to the ways of our "ignorant and primitive" ancestors. But! Now we have a "scientific" explanations for everything our grandparents took for granted. LOL! Mark Twain was right! "Common sense ain't all that common."
Surprisingly, with all of the hard flat walls and flooring, there's not much of an echo chamber effect. There must be enough sound absorbing materials in each room to make it "acoustically pleasant." Good job.
This is so close to my hometown ! Awesome video
EXCELLENT video! .... subscribed! ... looking forward to more.
Seems so nice, I would be afraid of moisture issues. Keep sharing
A great insightful video that shows both sides of the issue with some earlier earth ship homes. Interesting that the design for this site didn't have a glazed buffer at the front to help insulate the interior. Also a bit crazy that there isn't a decent heating system for somewhere that gets so cold due to the lack of such a structure. Even a slow combustion stove would be better.
I have seen this house previously on CZcams, the history how it was build
very down to earth. love this dudes POV. didn't oversell it. More trustworthy one i have seen.
You need exterior blinds. I have blinds on the outside of my large south-facing windows that I roll down in the summer. Bamboo blinds work well and last a long time in the elements. They also let through a good bit of light.
i pass this place every time i drive from my house to kamloops... too bad it's just off a highway.
I was a little surprised at the bathroom window after seeing just how close to the road this house is.
This looks like one of the very early designs without the common hall/greenhouse space in the front.
In the newer designs the green house separates all the rooms into discrete spaces.
Thanks for sharing
5:03 Have you considered fitting a damper in the flue? By reducing the draw you'll extend the length of burn and give the mass a chance to heat up.
I did enjoy how candid he was. So it's an earthship that doesn't really function as an earthship, except for solar/radiant energy. Good to know they can eventually make it a true earthship in the future!
Sad to see it unfinished after all this time.
life is a process. Buildings are not finished until they're torn down or disintegrate.
I thought it was interesting. Always seen these picture perfect earth houses, but now I could kinda get a little bit more information about the process.
But still liveable!
I imagine that living in a half-finished stick house would be a lot more uncomfortable than living in this half-finished earthship lol
If the inside temp can be around 15C, thenwhy the hassle with the rocket mass heater?
Amazing..
So perfect..
Wow
Isnt IT more useful for the Environment to recycle the used cans and instead lift 8 shovels of dirt more?
Really informative video, thanks! Btw couldn't imagine leaving that to go live in a big city!!
Thank you Structural Engineer who being very honest and open about this earthship! I like your detailed explanations about temperatures, weather changes and the environment. Wonder how you manage to live alone in that huge wide house? Still wondering!
Micheal is VERY much alive and we still have our Earthship community in Taos!
Now that's exactly the kind of comment someone would write if they killed Micheal.... what did you do, Maggie?
I would love to join the community in Taos
best earth ship video good job!!
Double glazed windows and that leaky door... such great engineering...
I can listen to this guy forever
all you need now is moveable window insulation system. but the sloped glass makes that difficult.
amen i like your mind set.
To make the rocket heater work better is to use smaller diameter wood.
Some great insights and really honest opinions. Looks like you are using softwoods (pine) in the rocket heater, maybe try some hardwood to give you a longer burn time.
I love the earthship idea, I've been living in apartments practically my whole life. I love the being outside part of this video. More ideas are flowing, more excitement is happening. Thank you so much for posting this. I will now drive my electric car to work. Have a great day. Hello from Colorado 👋🏻😎💜🔌🚗🚲👍🏻
This is sheer brilliance. I recently enjoyed a similar book, and it was absolutely brilliant. "Reclaiming Connection: The Journey of a Digital Detox" by Joshua Ember
Thank you. Very informative! What material is the roof?
in Poland all houses are required to be designed by a structural engineer and its a good thing; the stove should be placed in the centre of the buidling and needs a batch box; i light my stove up once per 2 days and its freezing now :) - this was designed i wanted to light it max 1 time per day and not baby sit it;
What are the winters like where you live? I am now researching batch box, thanks for the info
Itd be great to heat water for the tub by the sun😉& incorporate radiant heat pumping the hot water thru the floors. So, a closed heating water system for floors& another system for heating water. How to utelize the "heat" most efficiently☺😀😃😄ahhh yes!
yes-i saw an earthship in a youtube video, where they heated the water also with the wood stove
That's cool
I do n’t know the name of this kind of house, but some are like vegetable greenhouses in winter
This can be very energy efficient
Interesting "review" of this particular build. It's not perfect, but it's still a great house, Thanks for pointing out deficiencies so others can avoid them.
These are the homes/owners that are worth doing videos about.
Seems like a good idea but sort of a half baked attempt. If you can't stay warm in winter without burning a ton of wood is really missing the point. And nice traffic noise.
These things are expensive to make. But ye if I'm spending that kind of money would want to do it right.
A rocket mass stove like this house has burns more efficiently than a typical stove and the idea is that it uses less than a cord of wood during the winter. It burns hotter with the intention of not letting creosote (sp) build up which prevents chimney fires. Earthships in general maintain a constant temperature of around 68-72°F year round, so the rocket mass stove is just to allow for more temperature adjustability. It's a really mindful combination of systems that use less energy in the long-term.
In humid areas, With the cooling tubes do you have to worry about the humidity? As in mold wise
I dont know about tires, but glas bottles and cans can actually be recycled to make new, well, glas bottels and cans. It seems strange to me that people in north america havent ever thought about that yet.
I think earthship design has come a fair way since this model was designed. Newer designs separate the greenhouse in the front with glass, allowing that area to be a buffer zone to the cold but still allow low-horizon winter sun to pass through to heat the surfaces in the inner living spaces. And the circulation of air is very different, with windows at the top of the greenhouse area being openable - escaping air through them creates a suction effect that brings in air to the rear (inner) wall via large piping that passes through the earth behind the house. The incoming air is cooled by the earth so you effectively get a natural cooling system just by opening up the upper windows. Nevertheless I found his candid insights to be very useful, in particular on the rocket stove. And the notion that you can go outside of building code definitions if you have a professional to sign off is very exciting. Not the expense, but it still provides an explorable avenue for these innovative building approaches.
Love it
I believe I saw when this was being built.
Lucky guy...........to get to experience living in an Earthship!
thx
I loved the idea of a Rocket Mass Heater in my home until I started hearing all the persona l accounts. After hearing most of the negatives I've been looking into eastern & central European masonry heater.
There is a company in called Temp-Cast LLC Minnesota that makes full masonry heater kits. Cast high temp concrete & a load bearing slab with custom finishing. The way those burn is much the same. One hour or so a day & let it give off the heat for the next 12 or more hours. You only get the fire started & don't really even have to tend it either is the really nice part. In the end the Masonry heater is what Rocket stoves aspire to be.
I understand that there was a set budget for building this almost earthship- but why after the considerable work involved with creating the thermal mass with earth packed tires- they wouldnt make the cooling tunnels through it and why no over hang for front of house?- i am not understanding- would those two aspects have been so much more as to not make it worth it?
Isnt IT more useful for the Environment to recycle the used cans and instead lift 8 more shovels of dirt ?
maybe they thought they would not need cooling ? it’s a pretty informative video regarding paying attention to the details of the original design. i like that they used cob. i wonder about the off -gassing if the tires though.?
@@gailalbers1430, Michael Reynolds said that once you plaster over them there is no off-gasing because they aren't exposed to the sun.
He said it was an older version, with airflow through the roof windows..
keli Surfs there is an architect in Taos who says that they still had off snd create fine cracks in the plaster.., i don’t know...
On a home like this where you need all of the solar power possible in the cold season, would a canvas awning that provides shade in summer and can be retracted in winter be best?
Cathleen Baldwin Maggi The summer overhang would not block winter sun. There are programs for sizing summer overhang. Roughly 2 feet as a ballpark estimate for overhang
Regarding the rocket stove burning fast, perhaps a controlled restriction on air flow/draw could assist in slowing her down a bit?
My happy minimum is day time 24°C lol. When I design my place I want 18-20 at night is minimum all year round, daytime 24-30 is perfect.
Nice, articulate discussion on building to code, and the reality of the air conditioning using the windows and mass of the walls. Interesting that the incomplete “romantic” rocket mass heater only raised the temperature of the room one degree? Too bad the house is still not complete after so long. I fear it never will be. Texas
One very unexpected thing happened. I found out that my house has more than a few things he mentioned. I've always said that the person who build this house originally was a genius. First thing about it, is that it has a walkout basement, in other words three side are either completely under ground (2) or partly under ground. The upstairs has a wall facing south that is mostly window, the basement has a wall facing south (partially underground) that is almost all glass bricks, as long as it is not very cloudy, it is sunny, plus the other wall that faces west is also the same. The fireplace is not longer functioning but it has a natural gas insert, that works without electricity that keeps the finished half of the basement, very warm even when the temperatures here can go to -25 F. It also warms the main bedroom, which is directly above, through radiant heat. I can go on with all the things that are similar. The insert uses very little natural gas, I do have a electric furnace, which I keep at the most at 68 F during the day, and at night at 64 F. I had to put away my brand new fancy wool blanket because I was getting too warm. My gas bill is very low, compared to my neighbors. I was surprised how long you can keep water frozen by using insulation with common materials. Once it gets warm and all this ice around me melts, I will be digging a hole to keep ice in and try it next year. (Digging is not an option in Minnesota in the middle of winter.) I have a small rocket stove but it's outside. I will see if I can figure out how to make a much bigger one to supplement heat. I've been preparing for much colder winters. Found a program that weatherized and winterized my house for free, that I had zero idea existed, until I was told that due to my and my house's ages, that I qualified for it. As far as I know, it is not publicized, because the person who did the work told me that the other job that he did for another senior citizen, the person told him the same thing. Just had that done in November and the gas and electric bill went down even lower. Got really, really lucky!
Acapulco!!!!! hahaha Greetings from Mexico!!!!