Earthship New Zealand

Many of you may be wondering if the Waiheke earthship is still going ahead. We’re pleased to say that after a period of regrouping we’re now moving ahead with the detailed design and hope to have building plans ready to submit to Council in the new year. We looked into the Kickstarter project for a NZ version of the global model earthship however after review and assessment of interest from the ES community we realised this would cost more than we’d be likely to raise through crowdfunding and not worth the effort. So we are going ahead with our own custom design which is a split level 3 bedroom earthship. The lower level is a standard global model with greenhouse on front but the top level is more open with a rear tyre wall but no greenhouse on the front. That’s because we want the living area to have large sliding doors opening straight out into a deck. This will reduce the thermal performance of the building in some ways however with Waiheke’s mild climate we’re willing to make that compromise. And if additional heating or cooling is required we also have some very innovative and first of it’s kind alternative technologies to draw upon from Dana’s energy company, Energy Alternatives. We’ll be posting more regular updates from now on as we make key design decisions and look to having a building schedule posted early in the new year.