First things first: an earthship? What in god’s name is an earthship? And does the quirkiness of the name undermine a genuine and serious option at a zero carbon housing solution? OK. Well the definition, as written by the authors, is “a serious rational and well designed architectural response [which] are visually arresting, charismatic and extremely comfortable for those who live in them.

“The earthship has no connection to the water main, the national power grid, the gas main or sewerage system; the utilities that 99.9 per cent of conventional buildings in the UK are tethered to. In essence they are buildings that harness the earth’s natural resources to provide all the utilities or building services that are needed to make and sustain a habitable dwelling.”

So far so good, I hear you say, they sound on the money, but what do they look like? Well, contrary to what you may perceive they look neither like space ships – earthships, do you see the (tenuous) link – and nor do they resemble caves or subterranean dwellings. In fact the earthship photographed most often in the book, one under construction in Brighton, looks more like a greenhouse than it does anything else.

The glass elevation that gives one the impression of a greenhouse is key to the building’s sustainability. Oriented south facing for maximum hours of sunlight, solar thermal panels and PV cells, along with a wind turbine and biomass, provide all the energy required for the home to function year-round off-grid. Thermal mass – made from rammed earth and rammed tyres (yes old, discarded rubber car tyres) – and super insulation – ensure it does so net zero-carbon.

Detailed evaluations – by professor Andrew Miller, Centre for Sustainability of the Built Environment, University of Brighton – are provided on the Brighton earthship’s thermal performance. They amount to several pages but, as necessarily rigorous as they are, they do not in anyway make the book ponderous or overly academic. Indeed, Earthships could be considered a light ‘dip in dip out’ read about a serious subject.

The fact that this is so is a consequence of the straightforward authorial writing style (no hippy whimsy to be found here), the book’s clearly defined structure by chapter, for example, Thermal Mass, Renewable Energy, Water and so on, and the accessible layout that makes good use of colour photography, clean typography and clear signposting as well as ‘break out’ sketches that illuminate a certain topic or issue in isolation.

Where Earthships really cements (yes, I know, the irony) its reputation, though, is in its highlighting of conceptual subjects that are then discussed as practical examples in relation to the Brighton earthship. For example, the Water chapter introduces the subject in the wider British context, discussing requirements, usage, alternative sources, and contemporary recycling initiatives, and then contrasts how the Brighton project utilises its off-grid resources to provide sustainable water.

Ultimately, earthships per se – are achieving what Level 6 – zero-carbon – of the Code for Sustainable Homes recommends housebuilders in the UK aim for. So, are we likely to see earthships dotted around our urban landscapes in the near future? Unlikley. The authors conclude that as a mass zero-carbon solution earthships are practically a non-starter for reasons such as their low-density requirement and relatively high cost.

Instead, they argue – and it is difficult not to agree – earthships should be seen as prototypes. The sustainability measures that they so evidently demonstrate should be utilised, with modification where necessary, and adopted by mainstream housebuilders. Then, just maybe, true zero carbon sustainable homes could become a reality for the majority and not only the minority of us.

Now if they could just come up with a better name than ‘earthship’ there might just be a chance it would catch on. Presently, and, of course, wrongly, it’s inconceivable that even the most progressive executive at a national housebuilders would go to his board and say “you know what, earthship technology is the way forward.” He/she would be laughed out of the room to cries of “Beam me up, Scotty.” Shame, though.

Earthships: Building a zero carbon future for homes
Published by HIS BRE Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-86081-972-8,
Flexi-back, 128pp, 245x190mm, full colour.

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