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Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 24)

Academy (Day 24) - 2 U Simple Survival day 2 this week was a serious challenge to all involved after the wind forecast which was due to send us 40 mile an hour gusts in the afternoon showed up in the morning and lasted ALL day.. needless to say we all struggled to get all jobs finished, but we all pulled together and achieved what we set out to do:

Second layer of cement on roof vaults

Endless buckets of cement

Doors casings assembled and erected

Window casings assembled and stacked

2nd footing dug out and poured.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 23)

Academy (Day 23) - Back to the 2 U Simple Survival located at the 2 acre testing site. This is the first day of our final run of 5 working days to see what we can finish with the build before the end of the academy session. What we began today:

Poured the bond beam around the entire perimter

Raised the bottle wall on the exterior another 3 feet to be back filled off the roof later on

Built the wooden support inside the dome roof (vaults) to prep for cement

Cement thrown onto roof tops to start the layering process

Interior plate for doorway dug out and concrete poured

During this session Gary Brown and Sean worked on the Dynosphere to install magnetic propulsion upgrades to help make the vertical wind charging system become more efficient in power production. Very interesting experiment and detailed information presented.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 22)

Academy (Day 22) - Lemuria Global Model day 2 of 2.. Basics of work performed today:

Grey water pump moved to above the interior botanical cell to catch any issues of water so that is falls into the cell.

Final coat of adobe applied to interior rooms

Kitchen cabinet boxes set in place

Interior door hardware attached

Roof and gutter dirt cleaned off to prevent dirt entering the cistern

Interior ceiling carpentry continued

Vent box re-bar arches placed exterior

End of day Ron S. conducted a full tour of the building to go over the work we completed and what will be continued by Academy session 3.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 21)

Academy (Day 21) - Today was an optional work day at the Lemuria Global Model.. We decided to enjoy the option of a rest day.. not much was completed.. most notably the entry doors were hung. Back to it tomorrow!

Pic of the pyramid at the Castle... a midnight full moon light party was held on Saturday.. great way to rally the troops!

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 20)

Update (Day 20) - Classroom day with instructors covering the following topics:

Food Production (part 2) with Michelle Locker - Michelle went more in detail about the black water system, dehydrating techniques and plants suitable, composting techniques (compartment composting ideal for Earthships).

Movie (short film) - Earth Saver : documentary from a Dutch film producer done in a cartoon style portraying an overview of Earthship Biotecture with Mike Reynolds

Movie (short film) - Earthship : shot on location at the Phoenix. Awful fictional film about life in an Earthship after the apocalypse.

Earthship Design (part 2) Phil Basehart - continuing the discussion of power productions, the Simple Survival model inception, and implementation. Discussion then turned to the custom Earthship designs.

History of Architecture leading up to Earthships with Alex - she worked with Mike Reynolds on a series of projects and provided us with an architects historical perspective of why Earthships are necessary concepts now. We then visited her home in the gravel pit.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 19)

Update (Day 19) - Lemuria Global Model day 3 of 3 this week was both physically and mentally challenging for most of the crew due to its 4th day working, heat index rising, and an incredible 50 mph gust sandstorm which threw itself at those working exterior for about 4 hours in the afternoon. The dust rendered my camera useless and I was forced to buy a new one.. Needless to say, by the end of the day everyone was feeling exhausted and ready for a full in classroom day on Friday.

That said, I film crew from Taiwan stopped in to get some footage of the Global Model construction. Several of the crew and academy students were interviewed.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 18)

Update (Day 18) - Lemuria Global Model day 2 of a 3 day run this week. I personally was dealing with some illness and fatigue so I was unable to attend this day, but work continued in these areas:

Concrete foundation pouring

Metal flashing for greenhouse windows

Carpentry of ceiling 1x8’s cut and placed

Interior bottle wall construction for entry doors

Bathroom steps up to toilet and shower (cans/concrete)

Backfill dirt up to roofline

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 17)

Update (Day 17) - Lemuria Global Model day 1 of 3 this week. We were back at the work site ready to make progress in a number of different areas this week. Groups were split into different people from the previous weeks just to add some value to new teams and jobs delegated. Here is a list of what was accomplished on the day.

Kitchen cabinet pre-form build using carpentry skills

Metal flashing work for exterior greenhouse windows

Concrete floor forms assembled and poured new slabs

Glass bottles bricks cut for interior assembly for entry doors

Can wall steps in bathroom started

North end wall concrete plaster work and bottle assembly

Backfill behind north end wall

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 16)

Academy (Day 16) - Back to the 2 U Simple Survival work site. We made a lot of physical progress today:

finishing the first layers of thermal wrap

completing the can walls which will later form the outer layers of the bond beam

pounded 2 courses of tires which mark the front entrances

rebar perimeter for the bond beam which is laid in between the canned walls

cans and cement interior walls

metal lathe placed on the second U birdcage

trench dug out 10'' deep for footings for the entryway

pex pipe from cistern to interior of one U

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 15)

Academy (Day 15) - Back into the classroom for the last day of the week. Before lectures Kirsten entertained us with the history storytelling of The Hive and we were brought out to tour The Hive Earthship which not serves as the dorm style accommodations for the interns.

Next a lecture with Michelle on part 1 of food production. She went over her personal history within the Earthship community and the continuing experimentation with interior food production. Notable layering of veggies, fruits, and mushrooms.. along with functional air cleaning plants which can live and grow symbiotically within the grey water beds.

A following lecture featured Phil Basehart going over all types of Earthship designs and evolution through the years. Modular, Hut, Packaged, Simple Survival, and Global Earthship Models all covered and explained in detail.

Finally, we were caravened out to 3 separate Earthships in the community in order to view the different design models in person.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 14)

Academy (Day 14) - Simple Survival work performed today. Installation of the solo cistern set into place. Tires pounded to top row for second section of the 2 room Simple Survival floor plan. The second vaulted birdcage was assembled with rebar formation and finally assembled at the end of the day to complete the birdcage roof assembly. Metal lathe will now be applied and tied in to prep for concrete work.

There were ample moments to find some time to have fun in the birdcage ;)

Hattie and Paul pounding re-bar in to the concrete forms for support. 12" re-bar used at the backer for the 2 3/4'' ripped 2x4 forms.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 13)

Academy (Day 13) - Lemuria, day 3 or 3 in a row at the site and it was one of the most active for concrete work.

The north end tire wall was completed and setup for bottle installation and cement work which was addressed all day by one team in tandem with the bottle work team separating hundreds of bottles for different locations throughout. The exterior wall team probably completed about 10 rows in a day which is on the high end as you want to do a few layers a day so the concrete holds.

The concrete floor for the interior was started using ripped 2x4's at 2 3/4" width combined with re-bar 3 inches high to the outside of the form to keep it stable. A wire mesh was laid down before the forms and lifted into the middle of the pour once the concrete was laid out.

Using shovels.. dampening the pour brings the aggregate to the bottom and smoothens the top.. then a 2x4 board is used to drag across the top.. finally a trowel is applied to help bring the water inside the concrete to the surface and smooth out the top and ready it for the cure.

Cure time is about 48 days.. but one can tile within 4-5 days of the pour.

The skylight trim out, exterior window mullion cap install, and flashing were also completed.

Earthship Academy - Session 2: Update (Day 12)

Academy (Day 12) - Lemuria, day 2 of the 3 day run this week. We were once again hit with beautiful weather in the morning and then extreme changes into the afternoon with strong winds, dust, and eventually cold rain.

Before then there were advances made with the north end tire wall... we utilized 265 75/R16 sized tires for the bottom course (ideal size) and worked out way up with tire pounding.. eventually settling on 235's the rest of the way up. At the end of the day 20 inch reb-bar is pounded in to 4 different stacks in order to secure 2 cross sections of re-bar for the glass wall over the tires.

A glass brick team was put to the task of cutting using a simple tile saw outfitted with a diamond blade. The lengths for cutting the bottoms are standard 4 inches. If used for an interior wall then combing a white bottom with a colored side is ideal.. this allows for optimum light to pass through to the colored side.

Another team worked exclusively on the metal flashing and the window mullion caps.. sealing with double sided Bulyte adhesive tape which serves as a weather seal for the redwood mullion caps. It is best to get these down ASAP after the glass is installed to prevent failure of the double pane long term.

Lastly, metal lathe was installed over the can walls toward the top outer edges to ready for concrete.. and some final work on adobe as well as prep for concrete floor prep tomorrow.

Tire distance 1.5 inches back set incrementally with each course going up.

Earthship Seattle - May Newsletter

***** Seeking VOLUNTEERS for our Maker Faire Booth.... June 8-9View this email in your browser

Dear Earthship enthusiasts,

We are excited to invite you to join the upcoming Earthship project. We'll be at the Seattle Mini Maker Faire this June!

We are in need of volunteers to assist with the Maker Faire. This would include:

Setup (June 7th starting @ 5pm)

Hosting the booth (June 8th and 9th starting at 10am)

Tear down and clean-up (June 10th - 6 pm to 9pm)

If you can help with any of these please let us know what time slots you can fill. We will have a meetup on Monday the 27th to further prepare for this event. Please join us at Jigsaw Renaissance: 7:00pm 815 Airport Way Seattle Wa 98134 >> Dial code: 112 << someone will buzz you in

We are gathering supplies for our display booth. Can you help us out with any of these?

4 tires - the smaller the better

4 small tarps (to put pounded tires on)

2-4 sledge hammers and shovels - the lighter the better

Wet saw (to cut bottles on)

Sand

Chopped straw

Dirt - 12 wheelbarrow’s worth of

Small glass bottles - clear and colored

1 table - between 4 and 8 feet long

Mini wind turbine or solar panel

Mini model of the water/sewage system. Ideas welcome!

Scrap metal, wood, insulation in small pieces to demonstrate thermal mass - ideas welcome

Please contact us ASAP if you can help out with supplies or volunteer some time to fill time-slots for our booth. Thanks, Earthship Mates

Upcoming events

Movie screening of “Garbage Warrior” @ Songaia Cohousing Community (June 1st)

Info. booth @ Photosynthesis (July 19th, 20th, 21st) Tour of an Earthship in Eastern WA (TBA)

3 day Seminar w/ Michael Reynolds (Seattle, WA) (Sept. 20th, 21st, 22nd)

Check us out

Facebook Meetup www.EarthshipWA.org

Adobe Workshop - Quentin Wilson (instructor)

Special Event - We were very lucky to have this opportunity with Quentin Wilson (retired Adobe instructor at Northern New Mexico College). Quentin is a highly respected teacher and expert of adobe in this region gave us a personal invitation to his home for an free workshop with a couple other folks (Katie, Rick, Linda, Beth, and Mike) on adobe principles and plaster instruction. This was a full day class with a wonderful lunch prepared by his wife Maria as well as some of the other participants.

We learned the in's and outs of adobe history worldwide, how to gauge percentage of quality clay, sand, and silt within each different soil structure, and how to properly mix and apply to a wall surface.

This was an extremely enjoyable and informative workshop which completely coincided with and is parallel to the schooling at Earthship Academy that I found it necessary to include in this blog.

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