Earthships – A Housing Concept Suitable for Indonesia

January, 05 2014. 5 minutes read.



So. Regarding the increase in LPG gas prices. My wife became the most panicked person, yes, she is right.
After gas, what's next?
Electricity.
Gasoline / Fuel.
Telephone.
blah..blah..

So, for those who already own a house, they will definitely panic too.
For those who don't have a house yet, they can only dream of owning one.


So starting from that, as a loyal YouTube user, I tried to find an answer: is there any housing concept that fits the condition of our Indonesia where operational costs tend to rise? In short, I tried to find out, is it possible to have a house with bills approaching 0?

The answer is yes.


I found this video [0], and this one [1]. So starting from the 2nd video [1], I was curious about the main figure Michael Reynolds, maybe he ever spoke at TED, and true enough he did speak at TED [2].

From his presentation, I found the concept he offers, called "Earthships" [3], where the house concept according to him is "Sustainable Green Buildings." Wow, what does this mean? Here I summarize the Earthships concept.


1. The house must have energy and natural resource independence.

Yes, the earthship design/method is designed to be a natural heater and natural cooler. Likewise with water sources. Not only that, it is also designed to be a food source. And combined with solar panels, this house concept has a great opportunity to become 0 bill, meaning no monthly bills. Watch the short video here [4].


2. The house is made from recycled materials.

The earthship concept builds houses using materials that do not need to be bought, and utilizes the following materials:

  • Used tires.
  • Used bottles (plastic, glass and cans). Examples of materials used can be watched in this video [5].


So, why is it suitable in Indonesia?

  1. Operational costs rise every year.
  2. Indonesia is rich in sunlight.
  3. Indonesia is rich in used materials, used bottles.
  4. Indonesia is rich in architectural experts.
  5. Indonesia is rich in....(you named).


Besides that, Michael Reynolds also has the EVE Project [6] program, where the goal is to build an independent village/community. This fits with our culture of 'gotong royong' (mutual cooperation). OOT, this culture (gotong-royong), I feel is almost starting to go extinct.


So, what do you think guys?


Regards,
@hepidad


Disclaimer:

  1. I am not an earthship.com salesperson.
  2. I posted this just in case among the readers there are state officials, who want to buy the construction design and then provide training to us [7].
  3. Maybe there are those who want to study at the academy, and teach the knowledge to us. Then work together to build a house together [8].


Links:
[0]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNZOxB12jKw
[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7h1eRiJwow
[2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FON-UK_1kyI
[3]: http://earthship.com/
[4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ozX_nt5A4o
[5]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqSpx0Vgv4
[6]: http://earthship.com/Designs/earthship-village-ecologies
[7]: http://earthshipstore.com/Earthship-construction-plans
[8]: http://earthship.com/academy


Originally published at: https://hepidad.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/earthships/