RE: Our Earthship Build - 2007/08/09
Haha. Just like me. Yet there is a difference, what you like to see in other peoples houses or on photos and what you want for your own house ;)
I guess we will add a 3 inch lightweight loam and straw mix to one wall of every room in our convetional portuguese contemporary contruction. I visited a strawbale house once and was completely fascinated by the quality of sound in such a space. In the hope to reproduce the soft sound and to help with moisture issues in our wet winters I thought about the light weight loam /straw mixture. I also heard that hemp crete works well for what I am searching for.
Yet in your case you don't want to insulate that wall right? A sit is your thermal mass you want to absorb or radiate energy to stabilize the seasons.
That is exactly right. I want the heat to move in and out of the wall. So any material that insulates, like straw, wood, etc would actually reduce the performance of the building. The couple that bought the other earthship a few years ago put a wood floor in and are in the process of turning it into a regular house, which brings tears to my eyes. I hope to one day buy them out.
Ouch. That hurts... and very strange. I would guess people who decide to buy an earthship also know what it is about and want to live with all the benefits these kind of buildings have..
Are you sharing the land?
Yes, very ugly relationship. They are weekend warriors and violate every principle we live by. It has been hard to learn to be patient and forgive them. It is my hope that Steem provides an opportunity for us to buy them out so that we can return to our original goal, to build a world class training facility where we can teach people how to be stewards of the land. It is happening.
What made you make this detour from your original goal? Seems like all was set up for a specific goal, yet now your sharing your land with "stangers".
We partnered with a friend. She did not want to get left behind and she fell in love with the romance of living off grid but did not want to do the work. I found out later that she fully expected me to build her a house. We made a lot of mistakes and that is why I now recommend to people that if they want to build a community or even join mine, get your own land, build your own house and get all your needs met. When you have found within yourself the ability and will to be independent, then we can start working on inter-independent relationships. Until then, I shy away as I have a tendency to want to help people and then end up doing it for them. It does not serve them or me. I ended up in a co-dependent relationship and I quickly re-established my boundaries. She left after one year. House sat empty and died for nearly a decade. We sat there and watched a year of our life rotting away. It was heart breaking. So we will go it alone now as I find it difficult to find people who can handle being in an inter-independent relationship. Long story made short ... ish.
Such wise words @wwf. Community is always difficult even the community of two that is based on love ;) The more people are involved and the more grown up they get, the more potential of conflict there is. I decided for myslef, that even though I have a very strong desire to live in a community I will live "alone" with my wife and kids to accomplic cooperative community by helping others and exchanging things, work and support. This kind of "distant" community feels to be the very right thing for me!
I think that is very wise and that is exactly what we are doing as well. Bravo to you!
Its my wifes wisdom, not mine. I am a very lucky man!