I've been collecting free Hot Tub Covers to use for this purpose on My root cellar. They have already put off all the emissions in the years used. They're easy to shape and pest resistant. You did a fine job of explaining this ! -KJ (I look at brick homes and think - "That brick should be inside.")
Tires are a cool concept for recycling but you can achieve the same effect using doubled wall insulation and spray tech concrete . All the tire pounding /collection etc seems very time consuming . Other ways to achieve same principles of convection heating and cool.
What's spray tech concrete? Concrete dose not breath well enough for earth ships, due to the high insulation value of the thermal mass there can be issue with damp accumulating on or inside walls in humid climates. Adobe or cob type rendering seems to be sighted as best. If the concrete is just for use within tires maybe however the work to pack the tires with earth could be automated somewhat more anyway with certain purpose equipment, however physical work for people isn't necessarily a bad thing in terms of strength and exercise, so.
The tires pose the single greatest labor cost in these buildings, from collecting, to pounding, to finish work, it’s a huge expense if you don’t have a crew of 30 paying laborers.
NIce job on the videos, I saw your kit when I went to the Academy. With all the attention spent on thermal bridging, isn't the external tire wall where the berm insulation terminates, a tire sized thermal bridge? I'm dealing with this issue on my build currently.
Why is a small thermal break on the walls so terrible when the entire floor remains an uninsulated thermal bridge? Up north where I am I always assumed the whole floor would need to be insulated as well.
It depends on how deep the frost line is, thermal bridging through the floor is not a problem for this design & location. The insulated berm breaks the frost line. However, There are certainly climate zones, site conditions and designs where you want to consider insulating the floor! Sound like you are in one of them!
Every time someone posts a video of the Earthship Biotecture... I want to bring down the Hydraform compressed earth block machine to make brick...ooooo - the soil!!
Tires are such a flaky building material. a) Using them does not actually address the environmental concerns at all. It only keeps some of the problem out of sight. But everyone gets sold on the feel good story. b) They are cheap, but transporting them along with time and labor, actually hide the True cost. Plus you are literally taking away someones garbage. They have businesses that already do this and charge for it. This is also before you pound dirt into those tires and all those resource and labor costs associated with installation. Solution: Use concrete. It is readily available, simple to pour and form into any shape, will last and also has excellent thermal properties, reduces the time to get a roof up and cover your site. It also makes adding a vapor barrier or other very simple and straight forward, meaning everything is completed much faster. Some might argue about the total cost, but it is not that much more expensive and saves you a lot of time and effort and delay in getting a roof up so you can work on completing the rest of the construction. Logically you can most likely out earn the difference you would pay by working the difference of the time you save. It might change a bit if you pour a thicker wall but that is optional.
Using recycled materials is a way to store carbon and trash in a positive/useful manner instead of sending it to the landfill to decimate the area for thousands of years while off-gassing and leaking toxins into the ground and possibly the water supply. Concrete is one of the top contributors to CO2 emissions and also creates other industrial toxic waste materials. Don't be so scared of hard work and helping the environment dude!!
"Plus you are literally taking away someones garbage": you're right, that is a plus, taking away someone's garbage that they would otherwise need to pay to dispose of. Transportation, time, labor, potentially other environmental concerns are certainly things to consider with tires. I think you should also consider the transportation, time, labor and environmental concerns with concrete. You can get the water to mix with it locally, but otherwise, you're transporting much more weight with concrete vs filling a container with dirt. I believe concrete is associated with much higher CO2 emissions than filling discarded tires with dirt. You're certainly correct about concrete being easier to work with, which is why I think it's a much more common building material. If you're looking for ways to trade-off lower cost and lower CO2 emissions vs higher labor and more time, then tires may be something to look into using. If you're looking to minimize time and labor, and you're ok with paying more and taking responsibility for the associated CO2, then I agree that concrete is a solid solution.
I've been collecting free Hot Tub Covers to use for this purpose on My root cellar.
They have already put off all the emissions in the years used. They're easy to shape and pest resistant.
You did a fine job of explaining this !
-KJ
(I look at brick homes and think - "That brick should be inside.")
Nice! And yes, the brick 🧱 should be inside!!
Where is your video of the tire tammer vs sledge hammer? Love to see it
Tires are a cool concept for recycling but you can achieve the same effect using doubled wall insulation and spray tech concrete . All the tire pounding /collection etc seems very time consuming . Other ways to achieve same principles of convection heating and cool.
What's spray tech concrete? Concrete dose not breath well enough for earth ships, due to the high insulation value of the thermal mass there can be issue with damp accumulating on or inside walls in humid climates. Adobe or cob type rendering seems to be sighted as best.
If the concrete is just for use within tires maybe however the work to pack the tires with earth could be automated somewhat more anyway with certain purpose equipment, however physical work for people isn't necessarily a bad thing in terms of strength and exercise, so.
The tires pose the single greatest labor cost in these buildings, from collecting, to pounding, to finish work, it’s a huge expense if you don’t have a crew of 30 paying laborers.
Great info thanks !
Where did the foam board come from? Virgin material or networking second hand?
Thanks, Eric!!
NIce job on the videos, I saw your kit when I went to the Academy. With all the attention spent on thermal bridging, isn't the external tire wall where the berm insulation terminates, a tire sized thermal bridge? I'm dealing with this issue on my build currently.
I would have to see it to comment. Really depends on wether or not the retaining wall extends beyond the front face or not… Where are you building?
@@TheOffGridGuru Ya true. Doing a modified Encounter, which has exposed wing walls, in North Ontario Canada.
Great video. Very informational.
Why is a small thermal break on the walls so terrible when the entire floor remains an uninsulated thermal bridge?
Up north where I am I always assumed the whole floor would need to be insulated as well.
It depends on how deep the frost line is, thermal bridging through the floor is not a problem for this design & location. The insulated berm breaks the frost line. However, There are certainly climate zones, site conditions and designs where you want to consider insulating the floor! Sound like you are in one of them!
Just to be clear your wrapping both sides of the foam with plastic not just the outside?
Outside only and then a thick EPDM rubber skirt above all of it to shed water away from the berm altogether.
Thank You!
Every time someone posts a video of the Earthship Biotecture... I want to bring down the Hydraform compressed earth block machine to make brick...ooooo - the soil!!
How long did you rent the escavator for and how much is it?
Ron owns the excavator
Dunno what you tried to explain. Foam wrapped in 6ml 4 tires high 3ft from tire wall. No backfill detail or video to tie in the concept. Thanks Stimpy
Tires are such a flaky building material.
a) Using them does not actually address the environmental concerns at all. It only keeps some of the problem out of sight. But everyone gets sold on the feel good story.
b) They are cheap, but transporting them along with time and labor, actually hide the True cost. Plus you are literally taking away someones garbage. They have businesses that already do this and charge for it. This is also before you pound dirt into those tires and all those resource and labor costs associated with installation.
Solution: Use concrete. It is readily available, simple to pour and form into any shape, will last and also has excellent thermal properties, reduces the time to get a roof up and cover your site. It also makes adding a vapor barrier or other very simple and straight forward, meaning everything is completed much faster. Some might argue about the total cost, but it is not that much more expensive and saves you a lot of time and effort and delay in getting a roof up so you can work on completing the rest of the construction. Logically you can most likely out earn the difference you would pay by working the difference of the time you save. It might change a bit if you pour a thicker wall but that is optional.
I guess you haven't heard about the fumes emitted from concrete.....
Using recycled materials is a way to store carbon and trash in a positive/useful manner instead of sending it to the landfill to decimate the area for thousands of years while off-gassing and leaking toxins into the ground and possibly the water supply. Concrete is one of the top contributors to CO2 emissions and also creates other industrial toxic waste materials. Don't be so scared of hard work and helping the environment dude!!
"Plus you are literally taking away someones garbage": you're right, that is a plus, taking away someone's garbage that they would otherwise need to pay to dispose of. Transportation, time, labor, potentially other environmental concerns are certainly things to consider with tires. I think you should also consider the transportation, time, labor and environmental concerns with concrete. You can get the water to mix with it locally, but otherwise, you're transporting much more weight with concrete vs filling a container with dirt. I believe concrete is associated with much higher CO2 emissions than filling discarded tires with dirt. You're certainly correct about concrete being easier to work with, which is why I think it's a much more common building material. If you're looking for ways to trade-off lower cost and lower CO2 emissions vs higher labor and more time, then tires may be something to look into using. If you're looking to minimize time and labor, and you're ok with paying more and taking responsibility for the associated CO2, then I agree that concrete is a solid solution.
Shhh.. shhh. Just let it happen
Are you paid by the concrete industry? Geez.....