You don't have to be a hippy or a hobbit to live in a house as beautiful as this one. Cob houses, earthships, rammed earth homes, whatever you call them, alternative houses are becoming more and more popular because they allow people to build their own homes to suit their lifestyle and living habits.
In most cases, earthships or cob homes are built with recycled materials such as bottles, tires or anything handy that is near the building site and potentially free to the builder. In a rammed earth home, old tires are stacked then filled with dirt and pounded into place with a sledge hammer. According to the EPA at the end of 2013, the US generated approximately 290 million scrap tires. Tires not only make up a hefty percentage of landfill waste, they are also excellent passive insulators, negating the need for insulation in many eartship-style homes.
The use of orientation is a big factor in what makes an alternative home work so well. Usually the sourthern wall is flanked with windows that allow the sun to warm the house throughout the day. The principles of thermal mass and passive solar heating are an important part of earthship building and keep the house comfortable in the winter and summer while using 60% less energy, saving you hundreds on utility bills.
While it may be intimidating to the beginner, there are a ton of resources out there to learn how to build with cob or rammed earth, or tires or whatever suits your fancy. Cob workshops such as this one are regularly scheduled all over the nation and are a great way to meet people and learn how to build with earth. Cob Cottage offers apprenticeships and links to books and articles about building with cob.Eartship.com will guide you through everything from getting permits to choosing the right building material to suit your needs
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
