Guludu - Tropical Earthship Prototype
Earthship Eco Homes’ Tropical Earthship prototype has launched on GoFundMe. The Earthship inspired building named “Guludu” will be constructed via a workshop in August-September 2019 if the project is funded – so please consider donating.
Guludu will be a home and a teaching space for Julia Smith, an indigenous woman, who teaches traditional cultural practices to the kids living in Yarrabah, near Cairns, Queensland. You can read all about Julia, her work, and Guludu on the GoFundMe website.
Guludu will be a home and a teaching space for Julia Smith, an indigenous woman, who teaches traditional cultural practices to the kids living in Yarrabah, near Cairns, Queensland. You can read all about Julia, her work, and Guludu on the GoFundMe website.
Use the WORKSHOP REGO button below to register your interest in the workshop.
Workshop Info
The workshop is in planning stages however the fundamental details are as follows:
You can come for 1-4 weeks depending on your budget and time constraints.
The first workshop is roughly scheduled for September 2019 which avoids the rainy/windy/hot season.
The fees (below) have been developed to cover the costs of:
- tuition by experienced, earthship-inspired builders and permaculture practitioners
- three meals per day - we don't want you to have to be concerned with making your own food
- campsite including camp kitchen, toilet, shower, somewhere to pitch a tent or swag
- you will also be working alongside indigenous people so it is an opportunity to learn about their culture
- insurance, so if you are seriously injured your medical expenses are covered
Workshop Fees
1 week - $900
2 weeks - $1600 ($800/wk)
3 weeks - $2100 ($700/wk)
4 weeks - $2400 ($600/wk)
By signing up for a workshop you are also funding the development of people and organisations who are sincerely trying to make a positive impact; driving change in the building/housing industry, empowering people with ecological skills and knowledge, connecting like minded people etc. These fees barely cover all the expenses listed above. All construction materials will be paid for via sponsorship from materials suppliers and/or money donated by generous people via the GoFundMe campaign. The people organising this project are working long hours for which they may never get paid. Some people don't understand this and complain about the Workshop fees.
Please use the Workshop Rego button below to register your interest and get email updates on this project.
Guludu Design Info
If you want to know more about the design philosophy of this radical new tropical Earthship design, scroll down past the images.
Workshop Info
The workshop is in planning stages however the fundamental details are as follows:
You can come for 1-4 weeks depending on your budget and time constraints.
The first workshop is roughly scheduled for September 2019 which avoids the rainy/windy/hot season.
The fees (below) have been developed to cover the costs of:
- tuition by experienced, earthship-inspired builders and permaculture practitioners
- three meals per day - we don't want you to have to be concerned with making your own food
- campsite including camp kitchen, toilet, shower, somewhere to pitch a tent or swag
- you will also be working alongside indigenous people so it is an opportunity to learn about their culture
- insurance, so if you are seriously injured your medical expenses are covered
Workshop Fees
1 week - $900
2 weeks - $1600 ($800/wk)
3 weeks - $2100 ($700/wk)
4 weeks - $2400 ($600/wk)
By signing up for a workshop you are also funding the development of people and organisations who are sincerely trying to make a positive impact; driving change in the building/housing industry, empowering people with ecological skills and knowledge, connecting like minded people etc. These fees barely cover all the expenses listed above. All construction materials will be paid for via sponsorship from materials suppliers and/or money donated by generous people via the GoFundMe campaign. The people organising this project are working long hours for which they may never get paid. Some people don't understand this and complain about the Workshop fees.
Please use the Workshop Rego button below to register your interest and get email updates on this project.
Guludu Design Info
If you want to know more about the design philosophy of this radical new tropical Earthship design, scroll down past the images.
Walk around animation of the latest and greatest design.
The site
Tropical “Earthship” Design Philosophy
The design of Guludu differs from other Earthship designs because it is designed for the hot humid tropics where lots of thermal mass (tyre walls) can cause overheating especially at nighttime; however, it retains its “Earthship-ness” by sticking to the 6 Earthship principles:
1. Natural Heating and Cooling
Guludu is intended to naturally (passively) provide comfortable indoor comfort conditions and to do this the four factors that influence human comfort must be addressed: air temperature, air speed, humidity and radiant temperature (e.g. from a hot surface).
Guludu avoids the use of thermal mass in favour of lightweight insulative materials to ensure that the constant tropical heat does not build up and get stored in the walls/floor/roof of the building. This prevents the issue of radiant heat causing discomfort. Instead of thermal mass (concrete, earth, stone etc) the walls are insulated with hempcrete, a super sustainable insulation material. This is a radical departure from typical Earthship designs which are high in thermal mass due to the rammed earth tyre walls and thermal mass floors. Please note, the typical earth-tube (or “cooling-tube”) system typically used in Earthships is not useful or appropriate in the hot humid tropics mainly because the ground temperature is similar to air temperature throughout the year.
Guludu is situated on the beachside where there is plenty of wind so it was a no-brainer to use cross-ventilation strategies to improve airflow (an important comfort factor in the tropics). It also uses convection (hot air rising out of roof vents) plus low wattage ceiling fans to boost comfort levels in extreme heat, when the wind is not blowing. A raised timber floor will also improve ventilation and decouple the building from the relatively warm ground temperature.
Shading is a good (and cheap) way to prevent the structure from heating up and causing issues with radiant heat, so a pergola structure around the building enables deciduous vines or shade sails to shade the building in summer while allowing sunshine into the building in winter.
The high humidity of the tropics is a difficult issue to deal with especially if you are trying to avoid conventional air-conditioning systems. Provided the air temperature, air speed and radiant heat issues are dealt with adequately, humidity may not be a significant issue. Guludu incorporates lime renders on the interior walls and this may help due to the natural tendency of lime renders to absorb excessive moisture. (I realise this might be a bit of a stretch due to the constantly high humidity in the tropics – the lime can’t absorb moisture indefinitely in the absence of occasional low humidity conditions). A heat pump water heater (located in a cupboard in the bathroom) may help due to their dehumidifying effects. Extractor fans to exhaust humid air from the kitchen and bathroom will also help. Otherwise, a small reverse cycle air-con system could be installed and powered directly from the off-grid renewable energy system, hence no carbon emissions.
Heating should not be needed right? Wrong! At times it still gets cold enough for many people to rug up and crouch by a heater, so a small pot belly stove has been located near the kitchen where it can double as a place to boil the kettle without the need for electricity or gas.
In summary, Guludu aims to provide comfortable indoor conditions passively for the majority of the time; however, occasionally, it may be nice to use some of the “active” systems to make it super comfy inside (ceiling fans, pot belly stove, maybe a small air-con run by solar power).
2. Natural and Recycled Materials
Rather than up-cycling old tyres for construction of the walls rammed earth filled tyres will be used as “stumps” to elevate the building off the ground. This helps with ventilation and with minimizing damage from flood waters. Elevated homes on stumps are a well proven strategy for housing in the tropics.
The walls will be insulated with hempcrete which has the main ingredient of hemp hurd: a natural material which is very durable with excellent resistance against termites, mould, fire and water.
Bottle walls are an iconic Earthship design element that we will be using in some of Guludu’s hempcrete walls.
In summary, like any “Earthship” many of the materials will be natural or recycled/reused, but of course some materials are not natural (e.g. steel roofing, PVC plumbing, cement) however, they have been selected for their durability, thermal properties and hence they contribute to the overall sustainability of the project.
3. Off Grid Power
A renewable energy system will be installed to provide the minimal energy needs of the home.
4. Off Grid Water
Although there is town-water connected to the site, the roofs will have gutters and downpipes to a rainwater tank. A pressure pump and easily maintained filter system will provide filtered rain-water to the home.
5. Off Grid Sewage Treatment
All sewage will be treated biologically, on-site, using the typical Earthship systems, the main difference being that the “botanical cells” (garden beds) will be located outdoors rather than indoors.
6. Food Production
The botanical cells (see above) are a great place for growing food because the wastewater is full of nutrients.
Other Earthship Strategies
Guludu also uses other typical Earthship strategies:
Guludu Design
There are five main elements or modules to the “house” which will be constructed in the following order:
Another important aspect of the modular design was to address the threat of cyclones. A series of smaller modules presents a smaller area to the wind and their round walls divide (and conquer!) the wind whereas a big straight wall would experience huge pressure in a cyclone and be likely to fail.
In conclusion, Guludu is an experiment that re-imagines many of the Earthship design principles with a view to developing an improved design for Australia’s hot humid tropics. Although Michael Reynolds (the originator of the Earthship concept) has designed various tropical Earthships e.g. in the Philippines, Fiji, Indonesia, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, these use traditional Earthship design systems (e.g. tyre walls) and are high in thermal mass. In contrast, Guludu aims to be a relatively lightweight structure which explores the possibility of using typical earthship materials in new ways (e.g. tyre stumps) with new materials such as hempcrete, combined with ancient tropical housing design principles. This "Guludu" prototype will explore the pros and cons of a different approach, especially with regard to the thermal performance of the home and its cyclone resistance.
The design of Guludu differs from other Earthship designs because it is designed for the hot humid tropics where lots of thermal mass (tyre walls) can cause overheating especially at nighttime; however, it retains its “Earthship-ness” by sticking to the 6 Earthship principles:
1. Natural Heating and Cooling
Guludu is intended to naturally (passively) provide comfortable indoor comfort conditions and to do this the four factors that influence human comfort must be addressed: air temperature, air speed, humidity and radiant temperature (e.g. from a hot surface).
Guludu avoids the use of thermal mass in favour of lightweight insulative materials to ensure that the constant tropical heat does not build up and get stored in the walls/floor/roof of the building. This prevents the issue of radiant heat causing discomfort. Instead of thermal mass (concrete, earth, stone etc) the walls are insulated with hempcrete, a super sustainable insulation material. This is a radical departure from typical Earthship designs which are high in thermal mass due to the rammed earth tyre walls and thermal mass floors. Please note, the typical earth-tube (or “cooling-tube”) system typically used in Earthships is not useful or appropriate in the hot humid tropics mainly because the ground temperature is similar to air temperature throughout the year.
Guludu is situated on the beachside where there is plenty of wind so it was a no-brainer to use cross-ventilation strategies to improve airflow (an important comfort factor in the tropics). It also uses convection (hot air rising out of roof vents) plus low wattage ceiling fans to boost comfort levels in extreme heat, when the wind is not blowing. A raised timber floor will also improve ventilation and decouple the building from the relatively warm ground temperature.
Shading is a good (and cheap) way to prevent the structure from heating up and causing issues with radiant heat, so a pergola structure around the building enables deciduous vines or shade sails to shade the building in summer while allowing sunshine into the building in winter.
The high humidity of the tropics is a difficult issue to deal with especially if you are trying to avoid conventional air-conditioning systems. Provided the air temperature, air speed and radiant heat issues are dealt with adequately, humidity may not be a significant issue. Guludu incorporates lime renders on the interior walls and this may help due to the natural tendency of lime renders to absorb excessive moisture. (I realise this might be a bit of a stretch due to the constantly high humidity in the tropics – the lime can’t absorb moisture indefinitely in the absence of occasional low humidity conditions). A heat pump water heater (located in a cupboard in the bathroom) may help due to their dehumidifying effects. Extractor fans to exhaust humid air from the kitchen and bathroom will also help. Otherwise, a small reverse cycle air-con system could be installed and powered directly from the off-grid renewable energy system, hence no carbon emissions.
Heating should not be needed right? Wrong! At times it still gets cold enough for many people to rug up and crouch by a heater, so a small pot belly stove has been located near the kitchen where it can double as a place to boil the kettle without the need for electricity or gas.
In summary, Guludu aims to provide comfortable indoor conditions passively for the majority of the time; however, occasionally, it may be nice to use some of the “active” systems to make it super comfy inside (ceiling fans, pot belly stove, maybe a small air-con run by solar power).
2. Natural and Recycled Materials
Rather than up-cycling old tyres for construction of the walls rammed earth filled tyres will be used as “stumps” to elevate the building off the ground. This helps with ventilation and with minimizing damage from flood waters. Elevated homes on stumps are a well proven strategy for housing in the tropics.
The walls will be insulated with hempcrete which has the main ingredient of hemp hurd: a natural material which is very durable with excellent resistance against termites, mould, fire and water.
Bottle walls are an iconic Earthship design element that we will be using in some of Guludu’s hempcrete walls.
In summary, like any “Earthship” many of the materials will be natural or recycled/reused, but of course some materials are not natural (e.g. steel roofing, PVC plumbing, cement) however, they have been selected for their durability, thermal properties and hence they contribute to the overall sustainability of the project.
3. Off Grid Power
A renewable energy system will be installed to provide the minimal energy needs of the home.
4. Off Grid Water
Although there is town-water connected to the site, the roofs will have gutters and downpipes to a rainwater tank. A pressure pump and easily maintained filter system will provide filtered rain-water to the home.
5. Off Grid Sewage Treatment
All sewage will be treated biologically, on-site, using the typical Earthship systems, the main difference being that the “botanical cells” (garden beds) will be located outdoors rather than indoors.
6. Food Production
The botanical cells (see above) are a great place for growing food because the wastewater is full of nutrients.
Other Earthship Strategies
Guludu also uses other typical Earthship strategies:
- Easy to learn, do-it-yourself construction methods that enable educational “natural building workshops” to happen. This reduces labour costs and empowers people with “sustainable” skills and knowledge.
- An easily scalable design – this reduces the costs of design and engineering for future similar designs.
- Modular design enables future expansion/replication.
- Utilising “natural phenomena”; Earthships work naturally by intelligently harnessing, sun, rain, wind, the stable temperature of the earth and physical and biological phenomena (such as hot air rising and oxygen-pumping plant roots). Guludu defends itself against cyclones, not through brute strength, but naturally, through aerodynamic wall and roof structures.
Guludu Design
There are five main elements or modules to the “house” which will be constructed in the following order:
- A small outhouse will be constructed near the existing septic tank. This will serve as a laundry and a guest bathroom especially for all the children who will be visiting Guludu for cultural education activities.
- A “fire circle” will be constructed as an outdoor social/cultural space where much of the action (education) will take place. A circular bench seat (constructed with rendered rammed earth tyres) surrounds a large fire pit where cooking on an open fire can happen. Shading will be provided by posts around the outside of the fire circle which will support wires to grow vines, or, as shown in the renderings above, a tarp can be used while the vines are growing. A greywater planter (or botanical cell) circles the outside of the bench seat putting herbs, fruit, and flowers within reach.
- The largest module which is described in detail above is the main living space for Julia. It includes a bathroom, kitchen and bedroom.
- Two smaller modules, constructed in the same way as the large module, serve as extra bedrooms. They will be constructed at future workshops.
Another important aspect of the modular design was to address the threat of cyclones. A series of smaller modules presents a smaller area to the wind and their round walls divide (and conquer!) the wind whereas a big straight wall would experience huge pressure in a cyclone and be likely to fail.
In conclusion, Guludu is an experiment that re-imagines many of the Earthship design principles with a view to developing an improved design for Australia’s hot humid tropics. Although Michael Reynolds (the originator of the Earthship concept) has designed various tropical Earthships e.g. in the Philippines, Fiji, Indonesia, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, these use traditional Earthship design systems (e.g. tyre walls) and are high in thermal mass. In contrast, Guludu aims to be a relatively lightweight structure which explores the possibility of using typical earthship materials in new ways (e.g. tyre stumps) with new materials such as hempcrete, combined with ancient tropical housing design principles. This "Guludu" prototype will explore the pros and cons of a different approach, especially with regard to the thermal performance of the home and its cyclone resistance.