Earthship Workshop 15-17 Feb 2019
photos from the workshop
EARTHSHIPS
Earthships are super energy and water efficient homes that are typically off-grid but can also be grid connected. This means little to no water and electricity bills plus the empowering feeling of self-sufficiency! They are made with natural materials such as earth and straw and up-cycled materials such as tyres and bottles. The design ensures that winter sun gets in and summer sun stays out, resulting in glorious indoor living conditions without the need for an air-conditioner. Underground "earthtubes" and solar chimneys ensure excellent ventilation and therefore good air quality. A beautiful indoor, food producing garden is also part of the Earthship design. Earthship construction methods are easy to do yourself so you can save money by putting in your own labour and only pay the builder to do the stuff you can't do. Want to learn more? Keep reading...
THE WORKSHOP
This 3 day intensive workshop is designed to introduce you to the Earthship concept and give you some hands-on experience so that you can evaluate how Earthship may be appropriate for your project. The Workshop includes:
A guided tour and presentation of Candy's Earthship (under construction - tyre wall finished and roof completed) in the Narara Eco Village (This is only the second Earthship style home to be council approved in NSW). There will also be a more general tour of the Narara Eco Village including various sustainable homes under construction.
The presentation will cover all the key Earthship concepts:
Other topics include:
Q&A sessions where you can ask all your Earthship questions.
There are limited places in this workshop so please secure your place by making prompt payment once your application has been accepted (via email).
THE PROJECT
This is a very special Earthship because it takes all the Earthship principles and reimagines the Earthship in a suburban context; this is a design that fits on a small suburban block of land (569m2) and as been adapted to suit the sub-tropical central coast of NSW.
The design is inspired by Michael Reynolds' "Global Model Earthship". The design (by Martin Freney, Earthship Eco Homes) incorporates tyre walls, strawbale walls, cob walls with a corrugated iron roof, composting toilet (and flushing toilet), solar chimneys, earth(cooling)tubes and lots of indoor planters! There are two bedrooms each with a walk in robe/study area, plus an access/disabled bathroom, compost toilet room, utility room/corridor and open plan kitchen/living area plus, of course, a beautiful greenhouse corridor. See below for floorplan and perspective view.
We will be starting construction of the strawbale walls at Candy's Earthship, day 1 and 2 focusing on building the strawbale walls and day 3 focusing on rendering. We will also be doing some bottle brick making.
Please check out this video which documents some of the progress on Candy's Earthship.
THE VENUE
The site of Candy's Earthship is in the Narara Eco Village. It's approx 90min drive from Sydney Airport; however, you can also catch the train to Narara Station (Sydney-Newcastle rail line). It has a camp site and lots of open space. See Camping section below for more info about the camp site. And click on this link to visit Narara Eco Village website.
THE HOST
Candy Disch is the amazing lady behind this exciting project. After doing an Agari Farm workshop in Tasmania to build an Earthship she hired Earthship Eco Homes to design Australia's first suburban Earthship; an Earthship that could "land" on a small suburban block in the beautiful Narara Eco Village. Candy has been an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry, running some very successful cafes. She is a wonderful cook and will be doing the catering for this workshop. Yum! She is retired now, looking forward to being an active member of the Eco Village. Come and meet Candy! Get inspired!
THE TUTORS
Martin Freney is a building designer, DIY builder, university lecturer and industrial designer. He is the designer and owner builder of Earthship Ironbank, Australia’s first council approved Earthship! He is a prominent advocate for Earthships and he has designed numerous Earthships throughout Australia via his sustainable design consultancy business Earthship Eco Homes. His PhD, which investigated the thermal performance and sustainability of Earthships, took him to Taos New Mexico USA to visit Earthships and Earthship inhabitants. Marty lives in a strawbale house that he also owner-built.
Sean Bozkewycz has worked on many Earthship projects throughout the world: Australia, Fiji, Canada and the USA (Earthship Biotecture Academy). His problem solving skills and knowledge of construction materials and methods has lead him to project management and building supervision of Earthship projects around Australia including Earthship Ironbank (SA) the Kinglake Earthship (VIC) and now Candy's Earthship. Sean is also an excellent teacher who can ensure that you learn sustainable construction techniques correctly and safely.
Earthships are super energy and water efficient homes that are typically off-grid but can also be grid connected. This means little to no water and electricity bills plus the empowering feeling of self-sufficiency! They are made with natural materials such as earth and straw and up-cycled materials such as tyres and bottles. The design ensures that winter sun gets in and summer sun stays out, resulting in glorious indoor living conditions without the need for an air-conditioner. Underground "earthtubes" and solar chimneys ensure excellent ventilation and therefore good air quality. A beautiful indoor, food producing garden is also part of the Earthship design. Earthship construction methods are easy to do yourself so you can save money by putting in your own labour and only pay the builder to do the stuff you can't do. Want to learn more? Keep reading...
THE WORKSHOP
This 3 day intensive workshop is designed to introduce you to the Earthship concept and give you some hands-on experience so that you can evaluate how Earthship may be appropriate for your project. The Workshop includes:
A guided tour and presentation of Candy's Earthship (under construction - tyre wall finished and roof completed) in the Narara Eco Village (This is only the second Earthship style home to be council approved in NSW). There will also be a more general tour of the Narara Eco Village including various sustainable homes under construction.
The presentation will cover all the key Earthship concepts:
- Off-grid power, water and sewage treatment
- Food production
- Passive/natural heating and cooling
- Natural & up-cycled construction materials (including straw bale)
Other topics include:
- Design
- Structural engineering
- Energy assessment
- Council approval
- Construction timeline
- Costs
- STRAW BALE wall building including earth rendering
- bottle brick making - learn how to make beautiful bottle bricks which bring colour and light into your home!
Q&A sessions where you can ask all your Earthship questions.
There are limited places in this workshop so please secure your place by making prompt payment once your application has been accepted (via email).
THE PROJECT
This is a very special Earthship because it takes all the Earthship principles and reimagines the Earthship in a suburban context; this is a design that fits on a small suburban block of land (569m2) and as been adapted to suit the sub-tropical central coast of NSW.
The design is inspired by Michael Reynolds' "Global Model Earthship". The design (by Martin Freney, Earthship Eco Homes) incorporates tyre walls, strawbale walls, cob walls with a corrugated iron roof, composting toilet (and flushing toilet), solar chimneys, earth(cooling)tubes and lots of indoor planters! There are two bedrooms each with a walk in robe/study area, plus an access/disabled bathroom, compost toilet room, utility room/corridor and open plan kitchen/living area plus, of course, a beautiful greenhouse corridor. See below for floorplan and perspective view.
We will be starting construction of the strawbale walls at Candy's Earthship, day 1 and 2 focusing on building the strawbale walls and day 3 focusing on rendering. We will also be doing some bottle brick making.
Please check out this video which documents some of the progress on Candy's Earthship.
THE VENUE
The site of Candy's Earthship is in the Narara Eco Village. It's approx 90min drive from Sydney Airport; however, you can also catch the train to Narara Station (Sydney-Newcastle rail line). It has a camp site and lots of open space. See Camping section below for more info about the camp site. And click on this link to visit Narara Eco Village website.
THE HOST
Candy Disch is the amazing lady behind this exciting project. After doing an Agari Farm workshop in Tasmania to build an Earthship she hired Earthship Eco Homes to design Australia's first suburban Earthship; an Earthship that could "land" on a small suburban block in the beautiful Narara Eco Village. Candy has been an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry, running some very successful cafes. She is a wonderful cook and will be doing the catering for this workshop. Yum! She is retired now, looking forward to being an active member of the Eco Village. Come and meet Candy! Get inspired!
THE TUTORS
Martin Freney is a building designer, DIY builder, university lecturer and industrial designer. He is the designer and owner builder of Earthship Ironbank, Australia’s first council approved Earthship! He is a prominent advocate for Earthships and he has designed numerous Earthships throughout Australia via his sustainable design consultancy business Earthship Eco Homes. His PhD, which investigated the thermal performance and sustainability of Earthships, took him to Taos New Mexico USA to visit Earthships and Earthship inhabitants. Marty lives in a strawbale house that he also owner-built.
Sean Bozkewycz has worked on many Earthship projects throughout the world: Australia, Fiji, Canada and the USA (Earthship Biotecture Academy). His problem solving skills and knowledge of construction materials and methods has lead him to project management and building supervision of Earthship projects around Australia including Earthship Ironbank (SA) the Kinglake Earthship (VIC) and now Candy's Earthship. Sean is also an excellent teacher who can ensure that you learn sustainable construction techniques correctly and safely.
Candy's Earthship, North East view
Candy's Earthship, Floorplan