Project Description

Off-Grid Tire Home #2

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Timeline:  Oct 2011 – Aug 2012

Primary Materials:  Tires, plastic bottles, glass bottles, dirt, wood, rebar and cement

Materials Cost: $22,000

Labor Cost: $1,141

Recipient:  A Guatemalan family of 4

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Background

Earthship Biotecture is responsible for LWH’s 2008 introduction to building with tires.  After attempting a couple of structures based on their books the LWH team traveled to New Mexico in 2010 to get a closer look and find common ground.  

Implementation:  

The LWH team spent most of October and November 2011 collecting tires, cutting glass for bottle bricks, stuffing trash bottles, staging materials and digging the foundation.  Most of this work was done by a temporary team of teenagers from the neighborhood led by the LWH executive director. As LWH was preparing the building site, Earthship Biotecture was designing the home, promoting the project and raising funds.

The LWH building team was joined on Nov 20 by Micheal Reynolds, 12 Earthship Biotecture builders and more than 50 volunteers from all over the world.  Until Dec 2 this 75 person team built a home on a mountainside with the following features: 40’ x 55’ floor plan, 3 rooms, bathroom, shower room, greenhouse, solar electricity, water harvesting, black and grey water cells, drinking water filter system and a fantastic view.  The recipient family was present throughout the construction and busy passing out homemade snacks and water to the team. Final touches were applied to the home by the LWH building team until August 2012.  

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