Be Involved
Workshops
Earthship New Zealand is currently working with experienced earthship designers, builders and practitioners to bring the knowledge and skills of earthship construction to New Zealand. This typically involves coordinating the workshop activities with an actual earthship build or a demonstration of earthship design and construction, such as a Hut Module. We are working with potential earthship projects in both New Zealand and Australia to make a workshop feasible. As soon as information is available we will post it here.
Volunteering
If you would like to participate in the building of an earthship in New Zealand, please enter your contact details in the form below:
[We will not pass your contact details onto any 3rd party and will only contact you with relevant information about earthship volunteering]
HI there, Living on the gold coast, Australia but planning to
sladeHI there,
Living on the gold coast, Australia but planning to be back in Bay Of Plenty in the next 3-6 months. Interested in workshops or working on building project or planning in various capacities.
Will be looking at working towards designing and building earthship on my land.
How have the councils been towards approval of works etc?
Is there much interest in getting willing people to do work experience on building projects?
Look forward to keeping up to date with relevant information here.
Cheers
Hi Slade, Where abouts in Bay of Plenty? I'm hopeful
AschelHi Slade,
Where abouts in Bay of Plenty? I’m hopeful to start a project just outside Opotiki in about 2 years but would love to start working towards this goal now by learning with/from you! Would be so keen to see what we can collaborate on!
Aschel
Hello Everyone, I'm an Architecture student in Newcastle Aus interested if
BenjiHello Everyone,
I’m an Architecture student in Newcastle Aus interested if there are others locally keen on these workshops. It would be great if you would highlight your interest here. I’d love to help in NZ but am curious if any workshops would be possible in Aus??
Benji
Hello, I am also living in Australia in NSW and
SandiHello, I am also living in Australia in NSW and would be interested in being involved in the building of an Earthship (in Oz). I am looking to build an Earthship Hut to start with and then expanding that into a larger building (similar to the Groundhouse built in Brittany, France).
THIS IS MY DREAM! I'm coming to NZ in October
Alyssa KaplanTHIS IS MY DREAM! I’m coming to NZ in October and would love to work on an earthship. Please contact me at akyogi711@yahoo.com or 407-341-6962.
I am currently in Perth Australia but will be in
RobbI am currently in Perth Australia but will be in New Zealand next year and will absolutley want to be on hand to help with an earthship workshop. Sign me up!
Saw the earthship being built on Grand designs, and didn't
Joanne PhilipsSaw the earthship being built on Grand designs, and didn’t realise how easily they can be built, (hard physical labour not withstanding). They are a wonderful way to use those old tires!
I have been studying alternative building ideas for several years and found the earthship concept very compatible with my way of thinking!
So am keen to be involved in the building of one here in NZ.
Hi Guys, I also live in BOP (Mount Maunganui). I'm
Peter MoodieHi Guys, I also live in BOP (Mount Maunganui). I’m a civil/environmental engineer who is pashionate about sustainability and would be keen to be involved in in something in this area of NZ.
Earthship in New Zealand nears completion
Brian GubbEarthship in New Zealand nears completion
Hi, myself & family also live in Tauranga. Could Brian explain
mary reidy-bartissolHi, myself & family also live in Tauranga.
Could Brian explain a little further about his comment Earthship in NZ nears completion ?
Thanks
....doubleclick on Brians name and link will take you to
Karl Anderw….doubleclick on Brians name and link will take you to NZs first earthship Brian and his extended family has built in the Waikato.Long may this site live and inform.!!!!!!!!
Hi, Have been living in Raglan for last two years
Ash LaneHi, Have been living in Raglan for last two years after 10 in the UK. Busy painting the old 1930’s villa to sell and get 5 acres to build an earthship of a type on. Read loads of books, seen videos but keen to learn about what adaptations are needed to adhere to NZ building codes and to damp proof properly. Its wetter here than New Mexico. Was a panelbeater for 20 years and now an artist blacksmith/wanabe earthship builder.
Hi Ash - I like your thinking! We have
adminHi Ash – I like your thinking! We have been starting to engage with DBH (Department of Building & Housing). There are a number of code areas that need to be satisfied. One being the wall structure and its damp properties (thanks to Leaky Buildings). There are also issues about treating rainwater for drinking and processing sewerage on site the way it is done with Earthships overseas. Earthships are properly damp proofed with a DPC laid in relation to the frost line and brought up the outside of the tyrewall and 1m of backfill, next to the rigid insulation. This keeps the thermal mass of the building nice and dry. Anecdotally it has been said that local building inspectors have insisted that a bag of cement goes into each tyre and/or rebar is driven through the stack of tyres. This is not actually necessary but the way to prove the Earthship’s performance against the code is to build a sample wall and undertake some empirical testing. What would help the cause would be if an Engineering School or Post-Grad decided to support this work. NZ’s requirements for seismic survivability would be higher than other parts of the world but no different to California for example. I know of a retro-fit in California that is constructing walls with a timber frame rectangle and then filling the wall-space with tyres. That way the conventional timber frame is structurally compliant and the tyres only provide thermal mass and are not load bearing. This approach ‘works’ but it is so wrong on so many levels too. I would like to think that in the new year we might be able to build some simple test structures in the Wellington region to allow some assessment to occur. It only needs some tyres, sledgehammers, spirit-levels, people and a little experience – and we can make it happen!
very keen to give anyone ahand as i need the
craig pearsonvery keen to give anyone ahand as i need the experience, no real skills just quick learning and hardwork on my behalf is offerd, surrounding BOP area ok
ph 0277142948
We have land in the Ureweras and are very keen
juanita parkerWe have land in the Ureweras and are very keen on the idea of building earthships. My brother-in-law has put his name down to help with any earthship projects in the bay of plenty and I have offered to look into the other side of things, permits and such. Any information on the this process to do with earthships would be greatly appreciated, we have never built so are pretty much completely in the dark about the whole process.
Hi, I'd be real keen to help out anyone in the
DarrenHi,
I’d be real keen to help out anyone in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, Australia with building an earthship. Keep up the great work
We are keen to help out, and learn as much
MyraWe are keen to help out, and learn as much as we can to build our own Earthship.
Would be great to have a process to follow that fits NZ Building Codes, instead of fighting our way indiviually thru the red tape.
It would be kinda amazing to get a patch of land for an Earthship Community (somewhere away from the Ocean and fault lines tho! )
So much could be accomplished, like minded people trading produce, meat, sharing ideas and working on projects, true sustainability, no 9-5 or stress…bliss!
Cheers
Hi i was recently at a ' design
WillieHi i was recently at a ‘ design your own eco home” weekend workshop, & concern was expressed about the possibility of leaching/off gassing of toxins from tyres into building envelope/\, any answers??
Hi Willie - tyres do off gas when exposed to
adminHi Willie – tyres do off gas when exposed to the air and UV light (that’s why tyre shops stink). However in an Earthship the tyre walls are well contained normally within an earth-based plaster. They are not exposed to the air nor UV light and do not off gas as a result. Off gassing is a chemical reaction and the air and light are needed for it to occur. There are earthships that have been lived in for over twenty years and there has been no reported problems of this nature.
Equally, with the tyres contained within the walls; in the case of fire (as has already been observed) they are not exposed to the heat and oxygen and do not burn. Another thing to remember is that the majority of the wall is made of earth and that will not burn either.