Earthship Communities Research Project

October 2004

Is the Earthship model viable as affordable eco housing in Scotland?

A collaborative project between

Funded by The Innovation Programme, Energy Saving Trust

Table of Contents
Page
1.0 Executive Summary 2

2.0 Background on the Study Partners 3

3.0 Rationale/Methodology
3.1 Earthship Fife 4
3.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco Homes 4
3.3 Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers 4
3.3.1. Primary Data – Questionnaire Survey 4
3.3.2 Secondary Data – Review and Analysis of enquiries and
requests for support for implementing Earthship projects received by SCI 5

4.0 Results of Feasibility Study

4.1 Earthship Design, Adaptations for Scotland & Material Costs 5
4.2 Planning & Building Control Issues 6
4.2.1 Planning & Building Control Assessment 8
4.2.2 Type Approval 9
4.2.3 Other Regulatory Issues to Consider 9

5.0 Findings
5.1 Earthship Fife – the Case Study 10
5.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco Homes 12
5.3 Results & Findings - Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers 13

6.0 Conclusion
6.1 Earthship Fife – the Case Study 15
6.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco Homes 15
6.3 Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers 15
6.3.1 Primary Data – Questionnaire Survey 15
6.3.2 Secondary Data 16

7.0 Next Steps 16

Appendices See Separate Document

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1.0 Executive Summary

The Earthship Communities Research Project is a collaborative project between Sustainable

Communities Initiatives (SCI), Earthships Moray (ESM) and South Ayrshire Council (SAC) and
investigates whether the Earthship model is viable as affordable eco housing in Scotland. The
study also set out to ascertain whether there is a demand for the Earthship concept, what barriers
are perceived in preventing any demand be converted to actual buildings, what support would be
required to remove those barriers, and what number of Earthships could be realistically built in the
next 2 to 3 years.

With their experience of building Earthship1 Fife, SCI presents their findings as a case study, which
comprises building design, materials, labour, cost, and planning and building control issues – all of
which were addressed in building Earthship Fife, the first Earthship in the UK. ESM provides
results from a market research survey, which explored the market demand for Earthships and any
perceived barriers people may have in building them. Both SCI and ESM also share their
understanding of the partnership potential of Earthship developments following their research into
Housing Associations and Local Authorities. ESM also present background for the need for eco
housing in the context of polices, which can be found in Appendix 2.

The lead partner in the study is South Ayrshire Council, who managed the project throughout.

The case study results for Earthship Fife has shown that the Earthship is viable in terms of cost,
design, building methods, labour requirements, and building control and planning requirements as
an affordable housing option in Scotland.

Earthship Fife cost £26,034 in materials to build the 31.5m2 building. Scaled up to an average
house size this relates to a projection of £43,000 for a highly energy-efficient house that will
provide a family of four with autonomous systems of power, water and sewage treatment, and
therefore be extremely inexpensive to run.

Labour costs are not reflected in the above figures as Earthship Fife was built by volunteers. The
building methods employed in building Earthships in Scotland are clearly easily transferable to an
unskilled labour force and will contribute positively to training and employment potential for people
interested in building their own eco-home.

The case study also demonstrated that after 2 winters in the Scottish climate the building is
functioning well in terms of being energy efficient and waterproof with no mains services and no
significant back up heat source. A monitoring programme over the next 3 years will enhance
observations made on, for example, temperature, humidity and renewable energy generation and
provide real data on the buildings performance. Although currently the concept is not perceived by
building control and planning as non-viable such data will assist in generic acceptance of the
concept across all Scottish Local Authorities.

The market research survey element of the research project illustrates a demand for the concept
as a self-build method of providing people with homes does currently exist, and a high level of
interest was expressed. The survey also clarified the need for more information on the concept,
which is currently either not known about, or not easily accessible to people due to the limitations
of the two organisations working in Earthship development. Such expertise in Scotland is limited to
SCI and ESM, both of whom are under-resourced to adequately provide the levels of support
needed for self build projects.

As well demonstrating its viability as an affordable house that people can build themselves, the
Earthship as an innovative concept in early stages of development in Scotland, provides
communities with economic benefits by way of tourist revenue. Developments incorporating rental
buildings with overnight accommodation and/or public buildings, such as a visitor centre could

1
Appendix 1 provides comprehensive background information on the Earthship concept.
2
receive significant income streams from these enterprises. The Earthship Visitors Resource Centre
in Fife is currently catering for a projection of 6 – 10,000 visitors per year (the centre has only been
open 2 months at the time of writing).

The study concluded that in order to research further the costs for larger residential Earthships,
and finalise planning and building control issues, more Earthships need to be built. Furthermore it
is clear from the market research analysis that in order to realise the anticipated potential for
Earthship developments a system needs to be implemented whereby people receive support
through all stages of their building project from the provision of initial information to practical
training in building methods. It is thus recommended that the implementation phase, as Phase 2 of
the study, would be two-fold and incorporate:

1. A self-build housing project of 12 houses based on Zero Waste Zero Energy principles
demonstrating Earthships as low cost social housing
2. And a Scottish-wide Earthship national development and support network to, amongst other
aims: support new and existing Earthship initiatives; disseminate accurate and accessible
information about the concept; and to ensure the cohesive development of the Earthship
concept in Scotland.

2.0 Background on the Study Partners

South Ayrshire Council led the partners and provided in-kind support in the form of Officer time to
manage the project and monitor its progress in line with the action plan. SCI headed the delivery
partners based on their 4 years experience of developing the Earthship concept in the UK. ESM
was employed as sub contractors to SCI to help deliver the project.

SCI is a registered charity (SC 034819) that works to demonstrate and encourage zero waste zero
energy communities. SCI works with waste as a resource to be valued and utilised, whilst
enhancing peoples’ lives by providing creative solutions to global problems. The organisation has
two main projects through which it makes zero waste zero energy lifestyles real and tangible;
Creative Waste Workshops and Earthship Fife. Creative Waste Workshops provide fun and
creativity with waste, where community members transform plastic drinks bottles, for example, into
greenhouses and sky rockets, thus practicing waste reuse and experiencing positively what it
means to have a different attitude to waste. Earthship Fife is the first completed Earthship in the
UK and demonstrates a holistic approach to living a zero-waste, zero energy, low impact lifestyle
by using waste as its main building materials and operating without the use of fossil fuel.
Earthships Moray (ESM), which works closely in association with SCI, is a voluntary organisation,
that was set up in the summer of 2002 to actively support and encourage the building, as well as to
raise the profile of, Earthships in Moray and to find innovative, practical ways to bring these
energy-efficient, self-sufficient homes within the financial reach of all sectors of the community with
a view to making sustainable and ecological lifestyles accessible to everyone.

ESM have run several Earthship-promoting and educational events for their members and their
work to promote Earthships as affordable housing has led to an ongoing dialogue with Moray
Council and approaches to Housing Associations and organisations such as Community Self-Build
Scotland.

3.0 Rationale/Methodology

As explained in Section 1 above the purpose of this study was to determine whether the Earthship
model is viable as affordable eco housing in Scotland, whether there is a demand for it, what
barriers are perceived in preventing any demand be converted to actual buildings, what support
would be required to remove those barriers, and what number of Earthships could be realistically
built in the next 2 to 3 years.

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Earthship Fife was built by SCI and serves as the first fully functioning UK Earthship, complete with
autonomous power, water and sewage systems. Earthship Fife was used as the case study for the
feasibility study and assessed on practical issues to conclude whether or not the Earthship model
is viable.

The potential for Earthship developments was determined through both SCI and Earthships Moray
approaching certain Local Authorities and Housing Associations.

Market demand, perceived barriers and level of support required were determined by undertaking
a Research Survey and reviewing and analysing a 25% selection of enquiries, feedback and
requests for support received from members of the public, groups, organisations and individuals
and families on both SCI’s and Earthships Moray’s databases.

3.1 Earthship Fife

Earthship Fife provided the opportunity to assess practical areas of the viability of the new concept
to the Scottish climate by examining:

 Earthship design and adaptations for Scotland;

 Building methods, such as earth-rammed tyre building and can wall masonry;
 Building materials using reclaimed and recycled sources such as car tyres;
 Material costs and labour;
 Planning and building control issues particular to Scottish Regulations;
 The associated autonomous systems; rainwater catchment, greywater recycling;
blackwater botanical cells, and renewable energy production;

3.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco Homes

In the course of a carrying out the aims of their respective groups, as well as specifically for this
research project, both SCI and Earthships Moray have approached certain Local Authorities and
Housing Associations with a view to:

 Introducing the Earthship and, in the case of SCI, the Zero Waste Zero Energy community
concept;
 Exploring the potential for Earthship communities with development partners;
 Finding a possible site for an Earthship housing development/community;
 Discovering what level of support and/or funding for an Earthship housing;
development/ZWAZE community might be available;
 Illustrating the problems, advantages and opportunities in implementing a project of this
nature;

3.3 Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers

Both primary and secondary data were used to ascertain the market demand for Earthships in
Scotland and the perceived barriers to the actual building of Earthships.

A questionnaire was distributed both in hard copy and over the Internet and placed on a number of
different websites with an option to print off and send in, or to submit electronically.

The questionnaire contained 17 questions and a section for adding comments, which were
designed to assess the market demand for Earthships and any barriers to the future development
of Earthships in general.

3.3.1. Primary data – Questionnaire Survey

The market research approach in the form of the questionnaire survey was used to assess:
 The market demand

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  Any barriers that are currently perceived as prohibiting future developments
 The level of support and information required by individuals and groups to implement their
plans to build Earthships

The Questionnaire was sent out to:

 10% (300 of 3000) of the addresses on the South Ayrshire Council Housing waiting and
transfer lists
 Members of the public who responded to newspaper adverts in the Ayrshire Post, Leader
and Ayr Advertiser
 47 individuals ands families on the Earthships Moray database
 300 individuals ands families on the SCI mailing list

In addition, the Questionnaire was posted onto the following websites:

 South Ayrshire Council
 SCI
 Earthships Moray
 Community Self-Build Scotland

3.3.2 Secondary data – Review and Analysis of enquiries and requests for support for
implementing Earthship projects received by SCI

A selection of enquiries, feedback and requests for support received from members of the public,
groups, organisations and individuals and families on SCI’s database were reviewed and analysed.

All of the above areas were researched, analysed and documented to provide the results
presented in Section 5.3.

4.0 Results of Feasibility Study

The assessment methods described in Section 3.0 above were used to generate the results
presented in this section.

4.1 Earthship Design, Adaptations for Scotland & Material Costs

The Earthship concept is demonstrated in many different designs all around the world, determined
by people’s tastes, budgets, the climate and planning criteria. Regardless of the design the
fundamental principles remain the same:

 Thermal mass;
 Passive solar gain;
 The utilisation of locally available and waste materials wherever possible;
 And autonomous water, sewage and power systems;

After considering designs across the globe research was carried out into what would work best in
the Scottish climate. Climatic adaptations were incorporated into the proposed design and then
implemented during construction of Earthship Fife. (Please see Appendix 3 for more details). A
short discussion and breakdown of the costs are presented below.

The material costs involved in building Earthship Fife are presented below in Table 1.The costings
are broadly broken down into building elements categories, which are based on, but don’t follow
entirely, those used in standard quantity surveying. Categories such as roof construction, wall
construction, and floor construction are used.

Earthship Fife is 31.5 m2 /315ft2 in size. Given that the building was built almost entirely by
volunteers, most of them unskilled, the costs do not include labour costs. Please see Appendix 4
5
for more details, which explores some of the issues around the labour required to build Earthship
Fife.

The overall cost of materials to SCI for the Earthship was £26,034. The thermally dynamic “U” cost
£8,770, the autonomous water system cost £3,678, the autonomous sewage system cost £926
and the renewable energy/power system cost £12,660. These figures are broken down further in
the table below.

Table 1 Material Costs

Thermal dynamic “U” Water system Sewage system Renewable

energy/power
system
£8,770 £3,678 £926 £12,660

Excavation & £991 Water £1920 Botanical £386 Wind £4,265

Earthworks Organising cells/ turbine &
Module blackwater equip.
beds
Wall Construction & £480 Filters £311 Greenhouse £540 Solar £1,300
Finishes structure panels &
equip.
Roof Construction & £3,349 Tanks & £1447 Hydro £2,500
Finishes plumbing turbine &
materials equip.
Floor Construction & £337 Control £3,344
Finishes equip.
Windows & Doors £1,440 Battery £1,250
bank
External Works £428
Internal Works £100
Miscellaneous/ £1066
Hardware
Haulage of materials £578

The above costs are the actual costs to SCI with charity discounts and sponsorships already
deducted. It is estimated that the discounts and sponsorships are worth a total of £5,000. It is
important to note that this figure includes the more expensive ecological materials such as Voltex,
which our budget would have prohibited had it not been a sponsored material.

The sewage and power systems of Earthship Fife are adequate in scale to provide a family of four
with their needs and the costs would not increase if the building was scaled up.

Appendix 5 provides more information on the autonomous systems.

4.2 Planning & Building Control Issues

Planning permission was required to build Earthship Fife and erect the 5.5 metre high wind turbine
that is part of the buildings autonomous power system. The permission took no longer than the
maximum statutory 2 months.

The permit granted was for a research/education building as the site the Earthship was built on is
classified as agricultural as strictly non-residential.

Building Control (BC) have to take their lead from the Planning Department in classifying buildings,
so because the Earthship was defined as non-residential by the Planning Department a residential
building warrant could not be requested. The Building Control Department did however agree to
take housing standards into consideration during the application process, with a view to testing the
6
concept for residential dwelling use in the future. The actual evaluation, however, was made on the
proposed use of the building as an experimental limited life office building.

The outcome of the evaluation was thus a temporary building warrant of 5 years. BC also provided
feedback on the issues that they consider need to be addressed before permanent residential
status for Earthships may be granted. This decision was reached in consultation with the Building
Standards Division of the Scottish Executive.

The issues raised by BC from the perspective of meeting the housing standards were as follows:

 Fitness of materials – tyres;

 Daylight;
 Flat Roof construction & Interstitial Condensation;
 Ventilation;
 Heating;

Fitness of materials - tyres refers specifically to the durability of tyres in a buried situation as in the
Earthship walls. The lack of proof of longevity of tyres is used as justification for the limited life
status granted to the first Earthship, Earthship Fife. This is therefore an important issue for us to
resolve for the future of Earthships in Scotland.

Daylight refers to the interior glass wall that is integral to the design of a Scottish Earthship.
Because this wall is not on an external wall it is considered a screen (on which curtains or shades
could be fitted for example, and closed by the occupants and therefore obstruct the light), and
therefore renders the external glass covering the entire south face of the building as invalid in
meeting the required fifteenth of the floor area of each apartment2 as windows to permit daylight. In
actual fact the south facing glass permits more than 6 times the daylight requirements.

BC therefore could only consider the roof light in the main room as a means of providing sufficient
day-lighting requirements. Measuring 0.16m2 this proved to be inadequate. Installing larger roof
lights would have resulted in more heat loss.

The issue with the flat roof construction is interstitial condensation due to the combined warm and
cold roof design. Commonly all insulation would be above the roof on a flat roof construction to
avoid condensation within the roof structure (i.e. the warm roof method). BC suggested this
combined design is avoided in future and requested that moisture levels are included in SCI’s
proposed monitoring programme.

Ventilation concerns over whether or not the building has enough ventilation refer to the current
technical standards which require that a thirtieth of the floor area of each apartment3 should be
converted into operable ventilation mechanisms to permit fresh air. Earthship Fife is 31.5 m2
/315ft2 and should therefore have 1.05m2 of operable ventilation. The roof lights fitted in the roof
are 0.16m2 each providing a total of 0.32m2, or approximately a third of the required operable
ventilation. The mechanical fan fitted in the kitchen area is considered adequate to provide the
additional amount of ventilation required. An operable vent has also been fitted above floor level,
approximately half a metre square.

Over and above operable ventilation the technical standards state that 4000mm2 of trickle
ventilation is required per apartment in a house. This is provided in the Earthship by vents fitted on
the sides of the roof lights. BC stated that if the Earthship was a dwelling it should have trickle
vents added to the windows.

Heating. The current technical standards state that one living space per building should have a
heat source. In the case of the energy efficient design of the Earthship this may not be necessary.

2
Apartments are rooms that are lived in or slept in.
3
Apartments are rooms that are lived in or slept in.
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Following the response of BC to Earthship Fife Gaia Research of Edinburgh were commissioned to
make an assessment of the Building Control issues, and any need for monitoring, as well as
investigating the Type Approval system as a way forward.

SCI’s interpretation4 of Gaia's Research's finding can be seen below. For the original work please
see www.gaiagroup.org

4.2.1 Planning & Building Control Assessment

On the subject of durability of tyres Gaia Research reiterates the point that tyres are banned from
landfill sites because they represent a long-term waste problem in the ground. This in itself
suggests they are a durable waste material. Following approximately 20 conversations with tyre
experts Gaia Research are convinced that tyres are durable in the ground and pose no risk of
degradation. They support their assertion by discussing various projects that have used tyres in the
ground or in water, for example the artificial tyre reef structure in Poole Bay, and the tyre bales
manufactured and used by Northern Tyre Recycling Ltd.

Furthermore Gaia Research’s research concluded that tyres are not combustible when buried in
the ground, nor when rendered with thick layers of non-combustible earth plaster, as in the case of
the Earthship.

After reporting back to the local BC officer on Gaia Research’s conclusions on the suitability of
tyres as a building material the response was an, in principle, agreement to the majority of their
findings. The only specific response made was to the issue of fire resistance and the need for
recognised methods of testing fire resistance for Earthships of more than one storey was
emphasised.

Gaia Research concluded that with a little more time spent on research the necessary information
could be elucidated and would prove conclusively that tyres are durable in their role as a main
building material in Earthships.

Gaia Research considered the issue about daylight as an anomaly and a limitation of definition on
the part of Building Control. They feel the internal glass screen should be recognized as allowing
the necessary amount of light into the living space. BC's response to this was to reaffirm that the
technical standards are prescriptive and as such the choices available to deal with this anomaly
are to apply the standard, apply for a relaxation5, or ignore the standard.

Gaia Research agrees that the combination warm-cold roof deck is unusual and a design that
could have been improved upon. However, given that a vapour barrier was used they are unclear
why BC is concerned about interstitial condensation. BC's response to Gaia Research’s comments
on the roof structure was that more evidence in support of the construction, which is avoided in
Scotland, would help. Furthermore, a dew point calculation would help and they were unsure
whether the vapour barrier was suitable.

Gaia Research did not consider trickle vents on the windows to be an ideal solution as they are so
uncontrollable and potentially a large loss of energy. BC's response to this was to state that how
the ventilation methods are used is down to the occupants of the dwelling.

On the issue of heating it was felt that a controllable heat source, such as a wood stove, would
provide Earthship occupants with an attractive feature whilst removing an obstacle to acceptance
in the current technical standards. Another option is to prove the case for passive solar heating
through monitoring internal and external temperatures. This may demonstrate that the sun could

4
Gaia Research is supportive of the work in developing the Earthship. However, they cannot confirm that
SCI's interpretation of their findings is accurate in all details. They refer readers to the original report at
www.gaiagroup.org
5
The number of relaxations that can be granted are at the discretion of the BC Department
8
be considered a heat source in the terms of the technical standards, and is adequate to maintain a
dwelling at a comfortable temperature throughout the year. The zero energy house in
Aberdeenshire was not investigated as part of Gaia Research’s research but does provide a
potential useful source of information on this matter.

BC's response to the heating assessment was to reaffirm that the standards are prescriptive and
as such the choices available to deal with this anomaly are to apply the standard, apply for a
relaxation, or ignore the standard.

4.2.2 Type Approval

It is recognised that the achievements of Earthship Fife in testing Scottish Planning and Building
Control systems have gone a long way towards preparing for their generic acceptance. However,
residential Earthship dwellings need permanent building warrants if they are to become more
mainstream and widely used as an affordable low impact housing model.

Type Approval6 is one way towards achieving generic acceptance of the Earthship concept in
Scotland. Type Approval is a generic approval for a given construction type that renders all
subsequent applications simpler and quicker to put through the planning/building control system.

The Scottish Type Approval Scheme procedure requires that design specifications, drawings and
supporting information are submitted with an application form to 3 Building Control Divisions in 3
different Scottish Local Authority areas. The respective Divisions assess the application and report
on any pertaining issues.

If Type Approval is gained any subsequent submissions for building warrant approval should be
simpler as the majority of the technical issues have been agreed. Each Local Authority will still
charge for an application and consider any site-specific issues.

In Scotland the Type Approval System has only been used by relatively few designs so it difficult to
judge the likely outcome of this approach as applied to the Earthship. However, the initial response
from the Secretary of the Type Approval Scheme was that there would be a number of site-specific
issues in the case of the Earthship.

Gaia Research was, however, of the impression that, given the modular fashion of the Earthship,
any type approval gained for one module, or "U" as they are called, would easily be applicable to
other "U's".

4.2.3 Other Regulatory Issues to Consider

Tyres are considered a priority waste by the government and pose a huge environmental problem.
Fifty million tyres are discarded in Britain every year, which amounts to 134,000 per day. The EU
Landfill Directive banned the disposal of whole tyres from landfill sites in 2003 and as of 2006
shredded tyres will also be banned. Illegal tyre disposal is of growing concern and tyre mountains
do expose the public to risk from fire and pollution.

All tyres have to be disposed of legally and the cost of this to the public is an estimate £3-5 per tyre
at your local tyre fitting company. Many of those tyres are transported long distances to be added
to the ever-increasing tyre mountains. For the most up-to-date UK statistics on tyre disposal please
see those of the Used Tyre Working Group: http://www.tyredisposal.co.uk The breakdown of tyre
disposal methods for Scotland in 1999 was 32,000 tonnes (approx 3.3 million) of which 45% were
landfilled and the rest were reused or recovered in some way. The estimated annual figures for
2005 are expected to reach almost 4 million used tyres for Scotland alone.

6
For further information on the Scottish Type Approval Scheme The Secretary of STAS can be contacted
through PO Box 13617 Newtown St Boswells

9
In order for SCI to reuse tyres in Earthship Fife the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
(SEPA) were formally notify in May 2002 of a recovery activity using waste tyres. This was then
registered as an exempt activity under Schedule 3, Paragraph 15 of the Waste Management
Licensing Regulations 1994 (As Amended).

Anyone handling waste tyres has a legal responsibility over their disposal. There is a legal
requirement known as “a duty of care” for businesses to follow under the Environmental Protection
Act 1990.It applies if you produce, import, carry, keep, treat, or dispose of waste tyres. It requires
that companies take responsibility to ensure that waste tyres are not handled illegally and that they
are only transferred to an authorised person together with a waste transfer note (in SCI’s case this
was the exemption certificate authorised by SEPA).

The exemption certificate is exempting you from having to have a waste management license to
handle waste. It follows the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Waste Management Licensing
Regulations 1994 and comes under Schedule 3 Paragraph 15 of the Regulations which permits the
exemption for the beneficial use of waste if it is put to that use without further treatment and that
the waste is not disposed of. You are required to protect and store your waste tyres safely,
preventing any escape. The maximum storage limit, under an exemption from waste management
licensing, is 1000 tyres.
The Environment Agency (EA) in England are taking a different view of the use of tyres in building
projects and are currently not in agreement with this exemption clause. The current situation in
England means that any use of tyres should have a waste management license. Obtaining a waste
management license is an expensive and onerous business. SEPA have stated that in the future
they will examine future similar notifications on a case by case basis as they do with all
notifications of exempt recovery activities.

5.0 Findings

The results generated in Section 4.0 above are discussed in this section with the conclusions and
suggestions for Next Steps presented for consideration in Sections 6 and 7 respectively.

5.1 Earthship Fife – the Case Study

Earthship Fife was used as a case study and assessed on practical issues to conclude whether or
not the Earthship model is viable as affordable eco housing in Scotland.

The design aspects used to build Earthship Fife provide a clear and replicable model to implement
in future Earthship building projects. The design has been approved by a structural engineer and
scrutinised by both the Planning and Building Control Departments of Fife Local Authority. Aspects
of the design were also discussed in consultation with the Scottish Executive Building Standards
Division, which means the concept has been introduced at a higher level within the Building
Control system.

In the main, the concept has been accepted as viable by these authority bodies, although there are
still some technical details to resolve, e.g. the durability of tyres and hence their suitability as a
building material. In consultation with Gaia Research of Edinburgh, a reputable architectural firm in
the field of eco housing and design, the technical details to be resolved with Building Control are all
surmountable.

The experience gained by those involved in building Earthship Fife has resulted in the ability for
Scottish self-builders to amend some designs aspects, i.e. the roof, with confidence.

The design of the building is now proven as far as the viability of it in the Scottish climate is
concerned. A formal monitoring programme will start in September 2004 to ascertain finer details
of temperature, air quality and condensation and will enable accurate predictions into future design
considerations, e.g. how much back-up heat, if any, is required in Earthship houses.

10
The building methods used to construct Earthship Fife are all considered low-tech and easily
taught to unskilled people. The methods proved to be relatively labour intensive, compared to e.g.,
a timber frame house, but the evident advantages were seen to compensate that fact. As low-tech
building methods they are easily learnt by people from all backgrounds and offer individuals an
empowering route in building, or contributing to building, their own homes.

The basic building materials used to build the walls of an Earthship are readily available almost
anywhere in Scotland, and are contributing to the reduction of tyre mountains – a priority waste
stream across the UK. Following responsible and legal routes to acquire the tyres people building
Earthships will furthermore gain financially and help pay for some of the building costs of their
project. This is due to the disposal costs normally borne by the tyre fitting company, which the
builder is alleviating by taking responsibility for “disposal”.

Earth from the site excavation is also freely available for plastering and burying the walls of an
Earthship. All the skills required for this process are again, low-tech and easily learnt by unskilled
people.

Other reclaimed materials can be used in many other areas of building an Earthship, many of
which can be used in any house design. Timber for the roof and internal walls and fittings, cans
and bottles for non-load bearing walls and aesthetic finishes are some of the examples.

Using reclaimed materials reduces building costs but can increase labour time, a scenario that is
commonly seen in self-build projects. Labour intensive building methods generally make less of an
impact on the environment, which fits well with the ethos of eco-housing at the construction phase.

The material costs accrued in building Earthship Fife have not yet, in practise, been scaled up to
present costs for an average house size. If Earthship Fife was scaled up for a family of four and
was 950 ft2/88m2, 150 ft2/0.93m2 larger than the average size of a 3 bedroomed modern 20th
Century villa, (Earthship Fife is 315 ft2/31.5m2) the costs could be trebled. This would result in a
thermally dynamic building with very minimal heating and running bills costing £26,310. On top of
that approximately £17,000 could be added to the build cost to provide the family of autonomous
water, sewage treatment and power systems – again creating systems with very minimal running
costs. The total material costs to build, and the majority of the running costs for the lifetime of the
building, is then approximately £43,000 for a three-bedroom house for a family of four. This is not
taking into consideration fittings such as kitchen units but neither would any other self-build project.
Earthship Fife used reclaimed kitchen units and self-builders could do the same at very little cost.

The cost per square metre for the Earthship is £488/m2 in the above scenario. A recent example of
a self-build eco house in Wales was costed at £683/m2 but did not provide all of the renewable
energy required. A straw bale office built in Perthshire a few years ago is estimated to have cost
£888/m2, built by contractors and connected to mains services.

The above costs are presented with some caution as it is not clear at this stage whether trebling
the size of Earthship Fife would necessarily treble the material costs. The existing power and
sewage systems are already set up to cater for a family of four. More Earthships need to be built
and further research carried out into the cost aspects of building them before this information can
be considered accurate.

In postgraduate research carried out in 2000 at Stirling University the running costs of an American
Earthship in a similar climate to Scotland was compared to 3 conventional Scottish houses. The
research showed that an annual saving of between £900 and £1500 could be made in the
Earthship through not requiring conventional services, i.e. water, sewage, mains electricity and
gas.

The response to Earthship Fife from the Planning Department strongly suggests that the visually
low impact nature of the building type would be welcomed in rural Scotland. As for planning
permission for all building types, it seems crucial that provision for low impact dwellings/eco
buildings be made in Local Authority Local and Structure Plans to enable Earthship developments.
11
Affordable housing is, however, another category that Earthships can conceivably fit into and is a
high priority for the Scottish Executive and Local Authorities across Scotland.

Building warrant status is currently temporary for Earthship Fife and it is clear that permanent
status for that particular building will move generic acceptance for Earthships in Scotland forward.
Earthship Fife is however not classified as a residential building and the option of attempting to
achieve Type Approval for the Earthship concept to gain residential status and generic approval is
worth considering as a way forward and should be explored further in the light of the completion of
Earthship Fife.

The report presented by Gaia Research, which investigated Building Control’s concerns regarding
the technical aspects of the concept is encouraging and suggests all concerns can be ameliorated.
It is the view of SCI in their experience of testing this concept against the Technical Standards that
residential building warrants will be achievable in the next project/developments.

With regard to the Earthship Fife’s concept’s autonomous systems the only development work that
needs to be carried out by SCI is that of the water system. Earthship Fife has not yet achieved
approval from Environmental Services simply because free-ranging peacocks roosted on the roof
for a long time and caused faecal contamination. It is not foreseen that achieving drinking quality
water with a filtering system similar to that of Earthship Fife will be a problem for other Earthship
builders. It is the view of SCI that this achievable with no major cost or inconvenience. Filters are
readily available in this country at no major cost to deal with such bacterial problems and shouldn’t
be difficult to find for self-builders.

5.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco Housing

The meetings with The Moray Council, Fife Council and Perth and Kinross Council, as well as the
meetings with Albyn Housing Society and Kingdom Housing Association, showed that although not
all factors have been resolved, that an affordable Earthship Zero Waste Zero Energy (ZWAZE)
housing development could go ahead in the next 2 years. The meeting notes for these meetings
can be seen in Appendix 6.

One common factor remaining unresolved, however, is the official opinion or stance of
Communities Scotland on a project such as this and if they would allocate funds towards it. This is
felt to be important so that the pilot project may be replicable in the future for other groups,
Housing Associations or individuals who wish to build Earthships as affordable housing.

In addition, Communities Scotland support would help to gain political backing within Local
Authorities for the Earthship concept, which would help to speed up the building of actual
Earthships.

The contact with the various Local Authorities also showed that the Earthship concept was more
acceptable to those LA’s that had sustainable housing policies as they could justify a development
of this sort more easily. The more developed those policies, the more attractive the Earthship and
ZWAZE community ideas as they fit so many criteria of government policy which has eventually
filtered down to LA level.

One of the biggest barriers is to find a site for an Earthship/ZWAZE development. This would be
much ameliorated if LA’s had clear policies that supported sustainable communities and had clear
guidelines for these communities or developments to adhere to. This is backed up by SCI’s
experience with Perth and Kinross Council who were keen to have demonstration sites for
sustainable communities because they were developing a sustainable construction policy. This
shows that LA’s and sustainable Earthship housing developments can be mutually beneficial as
well as achieving environmental and social benefits.

All of the LA’s mentioned in section 4 put the onus on the Earthship-promoting group to draw up a
proposal of partnership working with the Council. However, both Fife and Perth and Kinross
Councils responded well and very specifically to proposals put forward by SCI. Similarly, The
12
Moray Council responded much better to a specific proposal that involved an already reputable
organisation, in this case, Albyn Housing Society.

It is therefore recommended that any future Earthship initiatives draw up clear proposals for their
projects before approaching the Local Authority, as this would speed up the process enormously.
The LA’s then have something specific to respond to and can help the groups to see how their
projects fit the LA’s criteria.

The existence of Earthship Fife and the meticulous care taken in conforming to planning building
control regulations made an enormous difference to the way The Moray Council viewed ESM’s
proposals. ESM made even more progress with gaining credibility for their projects and ideas
when ESM had access to information from SCI concerning the questions being asked by TMC.
This suggests that any future initiatives should have access to an updateable bank of information
concerning other Earthship developments in Scotland as well as support staff, who have the bigger
picture of national Earthship development. It is suggested in Section 7 that this support and
information take the form a Scottish-wide national development and support network.

5.3 Results and Findings - Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers

This section discusses the results of the questionnaire, copy of which can be seen in Appendix 7.
Appendices 8 and 9 also show a copy of the covering letter sent with the questionnaire and
accompanying background information. This section also highlights the high number of
respondents interested in living in an Earthship, and the concept in general. It is worth noting that
the 15% response rate from people on the South Ayrshire Housing waiting list was above average,
reinforcing the high interest level in the concept. This section also shows the lack of information
available to the respondents. Appendix 10 contains details of the results of the survey, while the
conclusions of the survey are presented in Section 6 below.

A total of 94 completed questionnaires were received. Despite the fact that 35% of respondents
had never heard of an Earthship before they received the questionnaire, 73% of the respondents
indicated that they would be willing to be put on a mailing list to continue to receive Earthship
information, which further shows a strong interest in the concept. In addition, the comments
received by the respondents were also very supportive (see Appendix 11).

The high level of interest in Earthships is reflected in the following percentages: 18% of
respondents stated that they were definitely interested in renting an Earthship; 9% stated that they
might be interested in renting and Earthship if they knew more about it; 33% would definitely be
interested in building and Earthship if funding were available; 32% would possibly build or buy an
Earthship if thy knew more about it; 19% were interested in building an Earthship with or without
funding; 32% would consider sweat equity (giving their time and energy to help build an Earthship
in exchange for part ownership of it); however, 17% didn't believe that they qualified for any
funding/didn't have enough capital to build an Earthship.

The graphs below indicate that although 28% of respondents would consider
renting/buying/building an Earthship made out of recycled and/or reclaimed materials, yet 30%
would consider it but didn't know where to go for information. Similarly, 27% stated that they would
definitely consider building/buying/renting an Earthship that used renewable energy sources such
as solar and wind power, while 25% would definitely consider it but didn't know where to go for
information. Lastly, 26% of the respondents would consider renting/building/buying an Earthship
with it's own water supply from rainwater and it's own built-in sewage system; yet a further 27%
would but didn't know where to go for information. Only 4% of respondents were currently going to
Sustainable Communities Initiatives for information; whilst 3% went to Earthships Moray; 3% to
Earthship Biotecture's website and less than 1% to Low Carbon Network's website (builders of
Brighton Earthship). These figures show a clear need for information about Earthships to be
accessible.

13
 Would you consider an Earthship m ade out of recycled and/or
reclaim ed m aterials?

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes - looking Yes - don't Possibly if knew Not sure No idea what Not an ES, but Not an ES or any
into possibilities know where to more you're talking other self builds other self build
go about

Would you consider renting/buying/building an Earthship with its own

water supply from rainwater and its own built-in sewage system?

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes - looking Yes - don't Possibly if Not sure No idea w hat Not an ES, but Not an ES or
into possibilities know w here to knew more you're talking other self any other self
go about builds build

Would you consider renting/buying/building an Earthship that uses

renewable energy sources such as solar/wind power?

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes - Yes - don't Possibly if Not sure No idea Not an ES, Not an ES or
looking into know knew more w hat you're but other any other
possibilities w here to go talking about self builds self build

14
6.0 Conclusion

6.1 Earthship Fife – The Case Study

This study set out to determine whether the Earthship model is viable as affordable eco housing in
Scotland, whether there is a demand for it, what barriers are perceived in preventing any demand
be converted to actual buildings, what support would be required to remove those barriers, and
what number of Earthships could be realistically built in the next 2 to 3 years.

The study now completed on Earthship Fife as an actual case study constructed in Scotland
provides evidence that the Earthship is viable in the following ways:

 The building design used is accepted by structural engineers and Planning;

 The building design works in the Scottish climate;
 The building methods lend themselves well to self-build, or part self-build building projects;
 The building methods are easily taught to unskilled people;
 A significant amount of the building materials are readily available as waste products and
can help reduce a major waste problem;
 Reclaimed materials can be used in many aspects of the building;
 More than average labour time in building is compensated by the low-tech and easily taught
techniques, as well as reducing the environmental impact of more technical building
methods;
 Earthships are affordable as family homes as a self build model;
 Earthships provide families with houses that cost very little to run and operate in their
lifetime;
 Residential status for Earthships is achievable in the short term for future developments;

6.2 Earthships as Affordable Eco-homes

The results and findings show that although not all factors have been resolved, that an affordable
Earthship ZWAZE7 housing development could go ahead in the next 2 years. Whilst it can go
ahead without support from Communities Scotland, ideally this type of development would be
supported by Communities Scotland, which would make the project replicable in the future by
others much more easily.

The results and findings also show a need for clearer sustainable construction policies by LAs and
the allocation of land for these types of sustainable communities and low impact dwellings. The
clearer the sustainable construction policies, the easier an innovative ZWAZE Earthship housing
development proposal matches those policies.

From the experience of ESM and SCI, and notwithstanding that the production of this report, the
completion of Earthship Fife and the production of “The Earthship Toolkit, Your Guide to a Zero
Waste Zero Energy Future” will save both groups a lot of time and resources in dealing with
enquiries, it is still felt that the setting up of a National Development and Support Network is
necessary.

6.3 Market Demand for Earthships & Perceived Barriers

6.3.1 Primary data – Questionnaire Survey

The results of the quantitative data along with the qualitative data received in the comments would
indicate that there is a real market demand for Earthships and that this has not been fully revealed
to date. The lack of information about the possibilities and the lack of awareness on the part of the

7
A draft proposal of the ZWAZE development can be seen in Appendix 12
15
general public must be seen as a barrier to the future development of Earthships as if awareness
was increased, it is inevitable that the market demand for Earthships would increase.

The respondents came from a variety of backgrounds and personal circumstances but they seem
to want to have some choice about what location they would prefer to live in and to share that with
people who share similar community values. They also don’t know where to go for information or
in some cases, where to start looking for it. Thus, the main barrier appears to be lack of
awareness. 35% of respondents hadn’t heard of Earthships before completing the questionnaire
and 78 out of the 94 (73%) in total have stated that they want to be kept on a mailing list to be kept
informed about Earthship developments. This would suggest that if people were aware and
information available there would be greater interest and involvement from members of the public.
However, please see section 6.3.2 below for implications of this.

In conclusion, the research has shown that the market demand for Earthships is currently high and
potentially very high, and the main barriers to the future development of Earthships appear to be
twofold - lack of awareness and information, and lack of funding. With these addressed, Earthships
are viable as affordable eco housing in Scotland and as low cost social housing.

6.3.2 Secondary data

As shown in Section 4, whilst the breakdown of the selection of enquiries to SCI was informative
and interesting, it was the story behind the enquiries that may be more relevant to the future. It is
clear that to progress Earthship development in Scotland, the concept has to be coherently
marketed in a number of different ways. However, with marketing come enquiries and with
enquiries comes a need for staff and resources to deal with those enquiries. From their own
experience, the author groups are suggesting that any new Earthship project, particularly a real
housing development will be met with a storm of enquiries and unless that project has enough
resources to deal with them, the results will be the same as what SCI experienced i.e. not
providing an adequate level of support to enquirers. Earthships Moray, as a small community
group run by volunteers has had a similar experience to a lesser but relative degree.

7.0 Next Steps

In light of the above results it is now recognised that the Implementation Stage of this research
project would consist of 2 distinct components:

1. A Zero Waste Zero Energy Earthship Housing Development of 12 Earthships that

would demonstrate the effectiveness of the Earthship model as affordable eco housing and
its potential to reduce carbon emissions and waste, which could be replicated in future, and
surmount perceived barriers.
2. Scottish Earthship Development & Support Network8 There is a need for a supportive
network to enable Earthships to be developed as affordable eco-homes. It is thus
recommended that in conjunction with a self build eco housing project using Earthships as
the Zero Waste Zero Energy model should be the establishment of a national network that
would fulfil a number of aims not easily achievable by individual projects trying to focus their
energy and resources on the project at hand.

This development and support network would not replace individual Earthship projects’
freedom and ability to provide an information resource to enquirers, but would rather take
the pressure off groups by supporting them in a way that suits each individual project. It is
envisioned that each Earthship project would be a resource centre in its own right if that
group felt that were appropriate to their needs. The Network would be more than a
resource base and it would seek high level support for Earthship projects as well as policy
change to enable them to occur. The Development and Support network would be a
discrete part of an expanded SCI as a natural progression of its activities.

8
A draft description of the Network can be seen in Appendix 13
16