An earthship is a type of eco-home. The concept house was developed by architect Michael Reynolds and he coined the term "earthship." 
The house is made of concrete and is buried on three sides. The entire southern side is made of glass.
We have an 800 square foot attached greenhouse where we grow food year round. The planter pictured here is irrigated by our sink, shower, dishwasher, and clothes washer water. 
This is called greywater recycling, a unique feature of the earthship design.
We consume less than 1,000 kWh per month (that's about $60). We have no other utility bills.
Sunday, March 16, 2003
What is an earthship?
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4 comments:
Hello! As I consider an earthship design in Virginia, I'm curious. Did you have to have any regulatory approval for your graywater recycle? Best regards.
Michael A. Heald
Hello,
I also live in Virginia and am considering an earthship (I have been following them since I was young, and am now in a position to start saving for a family home). I was wondering, what system do you use to cool your home in the hot Virginia summers?
Lauren Anne Jacobs
Greetings, Anon.
Yes, we had to get approval before building our greywater system. The administrative hoop is called an "experimental permit" and every health department in every state has such a hoop for unconventional projects.
You may have to go all the way to the state level people (like we did!) before you get someone who can help you. There are standard forms for experimental designs in Virginia- just ask the Environmental Health department of your local health district. They should be able to help you out. If not, keep going up the ladder until you get a person who knows what you are talking about.
In our case, we had to monitor all water coming in and out of the house, have our greywater cell inspected several times as it was hooked up to plumbing, and provide rigorous academic support for our design plans.
The whole process was intimidating at first, lots of forms and phone calls. But eventually we got to know all the players and everyone was very friendly and helpful. Don't hesitate to be in touch if you run into a snag- It would be our pleasure to help in any way we can.
Lauren,
Greetings! We keep cool by using A/C. These two posts may be helpful:
1. Dealing with the heat
2. Effects of A/C on our power consumption
We started without A/C and were regularly over 100 in the house during the summer months. We've been able to adjust our power usage to stay under 1000 kWh per month even with A/C, so the unit we have has been a great solution.
With my 20/20 vision, I would suggest that anyone building their ship in southeastern VA to face it in some northerly direction, NOT due south, in an effort to reduce solar gain in the summer.
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