| Alternative Building and Sustainable Living |
When we moved to our land, there was nothing built, an empty slate that
allowed us to build the life and structures we wanted. The roads were
unimproved and still aren't up to Park County standards, but that's fine with
us. There was no power, water, sewer or phone. No garbage removal or mail
delivery.
Many Americans would find the lack of these essentials a fate too awful to
bare. But we embraced the challenges this land and life had in store for us, and
we found ways to be very happy and comfortable by applying practical,
problem-solving solutions. Here is our story, still in progress:
allowed us to build the life and structures we wanted. The roads were
unimproved and still aren't up to Park County standards, but that's fine with
us. There was no power, water, sewer or phone. No garbage removal or mail
delivery.
Many Americans would find the lack of these essentials a fate too awful to
bare. But we embraced the challenges this land and life had in store for us, and
we found ways to be very happy and comfortable by applying practical,
problem-solving solutions. Here is our story, still in progress:
Our first and foremost requirement is to
live debt free. Debt is unsustainable. We sold
everything and moved to the land to live in a
yurt until we could build a house.
live debt free. Debt is unsustainable. We sold
everything and moved to the land to live in a
yurt until we could build a house.
The yurt has been very comfortable. It has a 30
foot diameter, with a living room/office on one side and
a kitchen, bed-room and bathroom on the other side.
The wood burning cookstove is over 100 years old
and works perfectly to cook food, heat water and heat
the yurt. Fueled by beetle-kill pine.
The composting toilet is great and has served our
needs very well.
foot diameter, with a living room/office on one side and
a kitchen, bed-room and bathroom on the other side.
The wood burning cookstove is over 100 years old
and works perfectly to cook food, heat water and heat
the yurt. Fueled by beetle-kill pine.
The composting toilet is great and has served our
needs very well.
The wind turbine and 8
solar panels each produce
1KW of electricity. We have
12 batteries for storage.
No power bill ever. Priceless!
solar panels each produce
1KW of electricity. We have
12 batteries for storage.
No power bill ever. Priceless!
The tire bale house is being build to take advantage of some of the concepts
of an Earthship. All the windows are South facing and are the only heat source
we should need to keep the house comfortable, although we are leaning toward
radiant-floor heating in the master bed-room and walk-in pantry. If we do
radiant floor heating, it will be from solar heated hot water.
We ordered the windows from Fibertec in Canada because they have the
highest solar-heat gain co-efficient we could find. Windows need to be between
14% and 22% of the total floor space to provide enough heat to sufficiently heat
the house. Our house is appox. 3000 sq.ft. The window frames are fiberglass,
which reduces expansion and contraction resulting in broken glass and heat lose.
The tire bales weigh 1 ton each and are comprised of 100 compressed tires.
The bales measure 5 x 5 x 2. They are dense and provide a great deal of
thermal mass, plus they are insulating at R-40.
of an Earthship. All the windows are South facing and are the only heat source
we should need to keep the house comfortable, although we are leaning toward
radiant-floor heating in the master bed-room and walk-in pantry. If we do
radiant floor heating, it will be from solar heated hot water.
We ordered the windows from Fibertec in Canada because they have the
highest solar-heat gain co-efficient we could find. Windows need to be between
14% and 22% of the total floor space to provide enough heat to sufficiently heat
the house. Our house is appox. 3000 sq.ft. The window frames are fiberglass,
which reduces expansion and contraction resulting in broken glass and heat lose.
The tire bales weigh 1 ton each and are comprised of 100 compressed tires.
The bales measure 5 x 5 x 2. They are dense and provide a great deal of
thermal mass, plus they are insulating at R-40.
The first few tire bales in place. We took
42,000 tires out of a landfill to build
house with courtyard, greenhouse and barn.
42,000 tires out of a landfill to build
house with courtyard, greenhouse and barn.
| Spray insulation stabilized the tires and also sealed the holes from water and rodents. |
| Inside house before backfilling, but trusses and ply on roof. The giant beam has to withstand 120 mph winds and 80 lb. snow load. |
| The North and West sides of the house ready to be backfilled to the cement bond beam. That should keep the wind out. |
| South view of the house. |
| The windows are in and the metal roof is on, now the backfilling begins. Great view of the summer kitchen that will be wonderful for sipping iced tea and canning the summers bounty. |