Plans
Earthship Eco Homes has a range of designs that can be evolved to suit your needs, or a completely new design can be created for you.
All the designs use the six Earthship Design Principles developed by Michael Reynolds (earthship inventor/architect from the USA). The designs have been developed to ensure they address Australian building codes, standards, climate, termites, bushfires, energy efficiency, etc.
Earthship Design Principles
Earthship Eco Homes has designs suited to:
Earthship Eco Homes has developed a range of wall construction options.
Wall construction materials can be changed to your taste. Some people are concerned about the use of tyres in Earthship walls and would prefer something different. We are sure that tyres are a safe, ecological and economical construction material, but acknowledge that other options have their own advantages in certain situations, hence we have developed a range of options for the main (retaining) wall that is fundamental to Earthship design.
External (retaining) wall options:
Internal wall construction options:
All the designs use the six Earthship Design Principles developed by Michael Reynolds (earthship inventor/architect from the USA). The designs have been developed to ensure they address Australian building codes, standards, climate, termites, bushfires, energy efficiency, etc.
Earthship Design Principles
- Natural and recycled construction materials are used as much as practical
- Natural heating and cooling - minimal (or zero) heating and cooling required - these homes have comfortable indoor temperature naturally
- Renewable energy - because these homes need only minimal heating/cooling the off-grid energy system is small in comparison to a regular home.
- Renewable water - collecting, storing, filtering and pressurising rain water
- On-site wastewater recycling and treatment - the indoor greywater wicking bed gardens are where wastewater is transformed into... bananas (and other delicious fruit). A septic tank and leach field deals upcycles blackwater from the toilet and kitchen sink for irrigation of gardens.
- Food production occurs in the sunroom... everytime you take a shower, your wastewater flows into the indoor garden to irrigate food and flowers.
Earthship Eco Homes has designs suited to:
- small suburban blocks of land
- larger, rural blocks of land
- bushfire prone land
- sites with views to the south, east or west (note: in Australia, Earthships must face roughly north)
Earthship Eco Homes has developed a range of wall construction options.
Wall construction materials can be changed to your taste. Some people are concerned about the use of tyres in Earthship walls and would prefer something different. We are sure that tyres are a safe, ecological and economical construction material, but acknowledge that other options have their own advantages in certain situations, hence we have developed a range of options for the main (retaining) wall that is fundamental to Earthship design.
External (retaining) wall options:
- Tyres (filled with compacted earth and rendered so you can't see the tyres)
- Rammed Earth
- Super adobe (sandbags)
- Concrete block (with render to hide the blocks)
- Pre-fabricated concrete panels (lifted into place with a crane)
Internal wall construction options:
- "Can walls" (aluminium cans in cement or earth mortar)
- "Bottle walls" (glass bottle bricks in cement or earth mortar)
- Strawbale
- Straw panel e.g. Durra Panel
- Mud brick
- Rammed earth
- Compressed earth blocks
- Cob
- Light earth
- Hempcrete
- Super adobe (sandbags)
- Timber framed with plasterboard (Gyprock)
- Brick
Standard Designs
The Standard Designs have evolved from the first projects in Australia.
Indicative areas, timings and costs are provided below.
Please understand that every site and every project has different factors affecting the time, cost etc however these figures will give you an idea of what to expect.
Construction cost quoted is for an owner-builder and construction workshops. If you don't want to be an owner builder, add 25-30% for the licensed builder's margin.
Indicative areas, timings and costs are provided below.
Please understand that every site and every project has different factors affecting the time, cost etc however these figures will give you an idea of what to expect.
Construction cost quoted is for an owner-builder and construction workshops. If you don't want to be an owner builder, add 25-30% for the licensed builder's margin.
EarthBnB
EarthBnB is a tiny home for 1 or 2 people, or as tourist accommodation. It is optimised for bushfire resilience, and fast construction.
- Floor area: 40-50m2 (variations of the standard floor plan are available)
- Area required for building: 25m (east west dimension) x 20m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 3 months
- Owner built Construction cost approx: $250K
Zero
Earthship Zero is designed for ultimate performance. Based on some of Michael Reynolds' most efficient designs, this Australian version has been prototyped at Earthship East Augusta with amazing results - super stable indoor temperatures with zero heating and cooling energy required! Outdoor entertaining areas are included in the design or can be left out to save money/space etc. Also refer to the Mollongghip VIC project to see a 2 bedroom Zero under construction by owner-builders.
- Floor area: 125m2 (1 bed, 1 bath) 150m2 (2 bed, 2 bath) (variations of the standard floor plan are available)
- Area required for building: 35m (1 bed), 40m (2 bed) (east west dimension) x 20m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 3 months
- Owner built Construction cost approx: $300 (1 bed) -400K (2 bed)
Bushfire Family
The Bushfire Family design was developed to be highly resilient and highly defendable against bushfires. It is earth-sheltered and earth-covered which means earth is mounded against the walls and there is a thick layer of earth over the roof. It is essentially an underground house. It also has bushfire shutters on all the windows and doors and a sprinkler system that creates a mist of water around the building to keep it cool and protected during a bushfire.
- Floor area: 200-250m2 (variations of the standard floor plan are available)
- Area required for building: 40m-45m (east west dimension) x 20m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 12 months
- Construction cost approx: $900K
Suburban
The Suburban Earthship is designed to fit on a 30m x 30m (900m2) block of land. It has strawbale walls at the east and west ends of the building plus the typical Earthship tyre wall to the south, greenhouse to the north.
- Floor area: 130m2
- Area required for building: 25m (east west dimension) x 20m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 6 months
- Owner built Construction cost approx: $350K
Suburban MB
The Suburban MB (mini berm)
This Earthship is designed to fit on a north facing suburban block of land. A smaller than usual earth berm (earth mound) enables small south facing windows to admit extra light and cross ventilation - recommended for sub-tropical climates.
This Earthship is designed to fit on a north facing suburban block of land. A smaller than usual earth berm (earth mound) enables small south facing windows to admit extra light and cross ventilation - recommended for sub-tropical climates.
- Floor area: 117m2
- Area required for building: 25m (east west dimension) x 15m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 12 months
- Owner built Construction cost approx: $450K
Vista
Earthship Vista is designed to provide views to the south, east and west via a strawbale "wing" which enables windows to be positioned to get the views. Strawbale walls provide excellent insulation, are ecological and economical, and (surprisingly) bushfire resilient.
- Floor area: 187m2
- Area required for building: 42m (east west dimension) x 25m (north south dimension)
- Approval time: 9 months
- Construction time: 12 months
- Owner built Construction cost approx: $650K
TropoMod
TropoMod is designed for the hot and humid tropics of far North Queensland. It is a modular design that is very easy to replicate and link together to form a larger home or eco-tourism, bnb type situation. For more info click HERE
StrawShip
The StrawShip is an Earthship but without the typical earthmounded tyre retaining walls. Strawbale walls provide excellent insulation, are ecological and economical, and are bushfire resilient as demonstrated by CSIRO testing.
The Earthship Eco Homes Design & Approval Process
The Design Questionnaire is designed to get you thinking about what type of design is appropriate for you and your land and to explain some of the options for the off-grid systems, roof tyre etc. It also captures some key info for to smooth out the design and approval process - your contact details, address of your site etc. Click the button below to start the Design Questionnaire.
Stage 1 - Site Visit and Consultation
After the Design Questionnaire, The Site Visit and Consultation is an important first step to find out if your site is suitable for an Earthship:
- solar exposure - north facing site with no shading by trees, buildings, mountains, etc
- slope (topography) - flat site, or roughly north facing slopes are ideal
- wastewater - sufficient area for wastewater soakage bed and septic tank
- bushfire risk - sufficient “defendable area” around the building
Stage 2 - Design
The design stage explores various options for your Earthship:
- where it can be located on your site for best solar exposure, minimal bushfire risk, accommodating the slope
- floor plan options
- roof, wall and floor material options
Stage 3 - Planning Approval
First you need Planning Approval from Council/Shire to establish that you are allowed to build a home, BnB, School or whatever type of Earthship you want to build. A basic set of plans is developed to address planning issues such as:
- distance from boundaries
- driveway and car parking
- building size and shape - floor plan, elevations (north, south, east, west)
- bushfire hazard (an assessment by the local Fire Service may be required)
- wastewater system design (by a civil engineer)
Stage 4 - Building Approval
After you have Planning Approval the next step is to develop plans, specifications and reports for Building Approval, to demonstrate that the design meets the requirements of the National Construction Code.
achieve Building Approval and, ultimately, Development Approval - then you can start building!
- architectural drawings to demonstrate compliance with the NCC
- structural engineering (by a structural engineer)
- energy assessment (by an energy assessor)
- Certification by a private certifier/surveyor (or alternatively, your Council may offer this service)
achieve Building Approval and, ultimately, Development Approval - then you can start building!
Stage 5 - Construction Consultant
Earthship Eco Homes supports you throughout the construction stage to ensure a great outcome. Some of the Earthship construction methods may not be familiar to you or your builder so this is essentially an education stage to bring you and your builder up to speed on issues such as tyre wall construction, plumbing for the indoor greywater garden, bottle bricks, earth renders etc.
- online and phone support for your licensed builder, or for you, as an owner-builder
- site visits if needed
Stage 6 - Construction Workshops (optional but highly recommended)
Turning your project into an educational event to teach sustainable design and construction methods is highly recommended (but entirely optional). Earthship Eco Homes will organise, advertise, and orchestrate the event in conjunction with the owner-builder or licensed builder.
- tyre walls, earth renders and bottle bricks are labour intensive - the students solve this problem
- students pay a fee to attend; this covers the cost of their food and camping on site
- student fees also contribute to the the wages of the workshop instructors
- win-win outcome for you, the students and the instructors - everyone benefits