Ethnicity Assignment #9

Ethnicity Assignment #9

An Earthship is a house which works like a machine which not only shelters you it also takes care of the basic needs for survival. Michael Reynolds has been building and perfecting the Earthship design for at least over 40 years. The materials used to make this type of house is tires, cans, plastic and glass bottles, mud, straw, dirt, cement and random bits of garbage. This house has a built in system for catching and filtering water and for using of the grid energy sources. This means that there is clean water and there are no electricity bills.

On top of the home there will be a big bowl to catch rain water and snow which will will run down a path to the bottom of the house. The water then goes through a series of filtering and it also is used for water in the kitchen sink, showering, drinking, and the indoor greenhouse. Water that is flushed down the toilet, that is poured down sinks and what some may think is waste water is actually called black water which will run out of a tube to water the grass and plants on the property. The greenhouse which is built in the house can grow any kind of plant or food you want. Battery packs are built to form a switch board which is a source of power for the house. Some have used wind energy with wind mills and solar panels are also used. The main walls are made of tires which are packed with dirt and garbage which works as a heating and cooling system for the house. This can work because of thermal mass. This works with the sun warming up the tires and when the heat is needed in the home it is released and acts like a modern heater which we are familiar with. The glass bottles are used mostly for a decorative part of the home. The bottle necks are cut and placed in between cement this ends up looking like stain glass. The inside will have a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and the greenhouse.

I want to take this design that I have described and use experiments on how to improve this model and make it better. I will have to adapt some of the materials of course I feel this type of housing would be beneficial for the Nephilum.