ecoVillages Update 40. Phase 1 - Spiral Earthship Tiny Home workshop and build will start soon!

eco-alex (73)in #ecotrain • 4 years ago (edited)

The sun is back and its time for action! Winter passed by very swiftly for me, even at freezing temperatures living in a yurt. Nothing beats a wood burner to heat a yurt up, and im very grateful to have had a safe space. The same can not be said for living in a yurt in the Portugal summers, which peak at 47 degrees Celsius. This is motivating me even more to get building our first earthship tiny home as fast as possible. I am just about to finalize the design, which has now evolved from a hexagon to a spiral! I much prefer the round shape of the spiral than the straight sides of a hexagon, and i think i will be able to build it very quickly indeed! Since i have now chosen to make a tiny home it means i do not need any planning permission.. i can literally just starts building whenever I am ready.. and I am almost ready!

I have several goals for this earthship build. One of the most important aspects is to TEACH PEOPLE as we build, and my aim is to complete the structure and roof within three or four weeks. That is pretty fast, and with a group of around 14 people i think it will be very achievable. Another goal is to build this earthship on a small a budget as possible, whilst still creating an earthship that performs well in summer and in winter. If i can do this for less than 10,000 Euros I will be very happy as that will mean that we have a model that most people can afford and build for themselves. With dozens of people trained up and ready to build in this area, it isn't hard to see how Earthships could easily gain much more traction in this area and beyond. All we need is a working model to look at that works, and people trained up how to make it.. and that my friends is the mission I have chosen to take!

The completed earthship will be used as community space, accommodation for volunteers, and also for myself if things get a bit hot in the summer in the yurt. Once it is built i intend to build one or two more on this land so that we can host guests and volunteers longer term in comfort. They will also be great showcase models for everyone to visit and see, and our doors will be open to those who wish to visit and experience how they feel in real life.

Power Update!

I'm very happy to report that i am about to order a good solar power system! Sufficient Power is the only thing we are really missing here to be able to live completely off-grid and in total comfort year round. We have a lot of plants and trees to water, and we also have almost unlimited water via our borehole that can provide up to 600 litres per hour year round. We will fill a large hole with water so that we can take a dip and cool down during those very host summer days, and i will also be needing a fair amount for our vegetable garden that will need plenty of water every day. Doing this off-grid is simply perfect since we will not have to deal with any ongoing power bills to keep the pumps going. When the sun shines we will have up to 5Kw of power to deliver to all the things we need to run this project... including power tools and the all so important Fridge!

If you are interested in the detail.. i am buying Plyontech Lithium Ion Batteries.

These batteries are incredible, with a minimum of 15 years life before they are delivering 80% of their peak. If we dont deplete them too much we will most likely get 20 years of service from them. They cost 1,000 Euros each and will probably be the best investment i can make with 1,000 Euros. I would feel very vulnerable relying on grid power in this environment and these times. Who knows what will happen to this world over the next 5 or 10 years! I promote off grid living because it is the only way to gain true security for our lives. The rain will always fall, the sun will always shine, and we don’t have to do anything or sacrifice anything in order to harvest it.

The abundance that comes from the sky and earth is more than enough to provide all we need if we build and live in the right way. That is what Earthship Biotecture is about, and that is the most important thing i believe i can do and share with the world.

All of the other items such as inverter and charge controller are with Victron Energy systems. I am VERy happy with their products, they work very well and don’t cost the earth.

Watch this space!
I will be sharing more on the design and detail of the workshop as soon as i have things planned! It is looking like the Covid lockdowns are going to subside very soon.. which means that I will also be able to invite people from other countries to join in. Right now i would say that around April / may we will commence the build, and that will be one of the most exciting days of my life! I always wanted to build a spiral earthship, and never had the chance in India. Now is my chance to make one of my dreams come true, and to do it in such a convenient location and with such a simple design .. makes me so confident that we can make this happen with great ease as compared to the challenges i faced building in the remote mountains of South India!

If you are interested in this workshop let me know! I will keep as many spaces open as i can and would like to gauge interest from my Hive friends so i can plan ahead!

Much love to you all.. onwards and upwards!!