Real Estate from the Future.
Filed under Blog · Tagged: Arizona, AZ, home, homes, Real Estate, Wickenburg
Earthship: Powered by Sun, Cooled by Earth, and Watered by the Heavens.
Approximately 15 miles south of Wickenburg, Arizona is an eco-friendly home being built called an “earthship”. Earthships were developed by a man named Michael Reynolds from Taos, New Mexico. They were built and developed to work in harmony with nature rather than deplete its natural resources. Keeping this in mind, there are three basic systems that would need to be independent from most of the city’s amenaties: electricty, water/sewage, heating/cooling.
The first system I will discuss is the issue of heating and cooling your home because it ties directly into the construction of the home. The main component for building an earthship is recycled automobile tires. The tires are filled and compacted with dirt to make a steel-belted rubber encased brick. These recycled bricks are then stacked into retaining walls. These “tire walls” have proven to be incredibly resilient, durible, and invaluable for its thermal mass. So at this point you may be asking, “but how does the temperature stay regulated?”
Good question. The answer is two ways, the walls and passive solar heating/cooling. The walls have two basic functions: support for the roof, and provide thermal mass. The idea behind thermal mass is that the walls are massive enough to soak in the heat from the sun during the day and retain that heat all night. In addition to thermal mass, these earthships may be partially subterranean, utilizing the additional thermal mass, and it will be able to benefit from the Earth’s natural stable temperature. Also, the earthship is engineered to benefit from the Sun’s natural seasonal alignment. The southern wall in an earthship, which is usually nonstructural and made mostly of glass sheets allows for optimum solar exposure. This wall is also angled so that it is perpendicular to the winter sun. This allows for maximum heat exposure in the winter and minimum exposure in the summer, when heat is less desireable.
Now, on to what may be the most important feature of this home. How does it get its water? The answer is relatively easy. The concept for this home is that gallons on top of gallons of water pour from the sky every year and there should be a way to capture that water and use it a couple times and return it to the earth. This is exactly what happens. The water falls on to the roof of the home and is then collected through little slits on the roof. It is then sent to a tank where it is filtered and pressurized. The water is used the same as in the ways you would use it for a conventional home, bathing, cleaning, drinking, etc. However, once the water is used, it is recycled and used again. Even the water used with the toilet is recycled and reused for feeding the outdoor plants. There is also heated water in these homes. Water is heated by the sun and if it is not heated enough then natural gas heats the water the rest of the way. This is called “gas-on-demand” water heating. However, if rainfall isn’t very good, there is the possibilty of connecting to city water.
The last thing I’m going to discuss is another neccesity to a comfortable home. Electricty. But how is it possible to create electricty rather than consume it? The earthship gets its electricty from the sun and the wind. It uses photovoltaic panels to harvest energy from the sun (and we have plenty of that in Arizona) and convert it into a DC current which is then stored in car batteries. Then the earthship’s Power Organizing Module (POM) distributes the power from the batteries throughout the home. However, no electricity is used for heating and cooling.
This looks like it may be a new wave of the future coming into glimpse for real estate. I am actually very excited to see what is going to happen with these homes in the future and if they are going to start being built more and more.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you’d like, please watch this short video of the earthship that is only 15 miles away from Wickenburg, AZ.
~Kyle
Recipe Favorites for July
Chicken Apple Salad with Oil & Vinegar
Pre-cooked chicken, de-boned, cubed (can be leftover from previous meal)
3 bunches fresh spinach (or 1 package, processed)
6 large apples – cubed
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
½ cup light oil or olive oil
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup orange juice
Wash and dry spinach and tear into bite sized chunks with your hands. Place in large serving bowl. Place the apples and chicken in bowl and toss with the spinach. In separate bowl, whisk the olive oil and the white wine vinegar together. Let sit for a minute, add to spinach. Add the walnuts and cranberries, and toss gently. Place salad on plates and drizzle lightly with orange juice.
You may also serve this salad warm. Just microwave for a few seconds to soften the spinach ~ don’t overheat. When storing left over salad, be sure to keep in an airtight container so the spinach won’t wilt.
Shrimp Stuffed Beef Roast
½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped chives
2 tsp butter
12 oz shrimp, cooked, peeled, chopped
½ cup plain croutons
¼ dry white wine
¾ tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cracked pepper
5 lbs boneless beef rib roast
In a skillet, sauté’ celery and chives in butter until tender. Stir in shrimp, croutons, white wine, lemon zest, salt and paper. Mix well. Allow stuffing to cool. Spread evenly over roast. Roll roast to enclose stuffing. Secure with twine. Place roast on grill rack over drip pan, and cook with indirect heat. Cook with lid down for approximately 2 ½ hours or to 140° F on meat thermometer for rare or longer for desired doneness. When cooking is complete, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Dirt Dessert
8” plastic flower pot (scald well to clean)
Plastic or silk flowers
½ stick butter or margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1 small box of vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
½ cup milk
12 oz. carton Cool Whip
1 (20 oz.) package of Oreo cookies (crushed in food processor/blender)
Thoroughly cream together butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Stir in powdered sugar until well blended. Add milk and vanilla pudding. Beat until well blended. Fold in Cool Whip. Mix well. Begin layering the crushed cookies and the filling in the flower pot. Keep repeating layers ending up with the cookies on top. Refrigerate overnight. Place the plastic flowers in the pot before serving for decoration. Serves 6-8.
Pool Safety Saves Lives!
Warm weather, long summers and over 250,000 pools make Arizona prone to water-related incidents. Two-thirds of all drowning happen between May and August.
The Arizona Department of Health Services recommends the following pool safety tips:
- Children should never be left unattended in the pool or pool area. Children should always be watched when in or around the pool area. Floatation devices and swimming lessons are not substitutes for supervision.
- CPR instructions and the 911 emergency number should be posted in the pool area.
- All residential pool owners should attend water rescue and CPR classes.
- Lifesaving equipment should be easily accessible and stored in the pool area.
- A phone should be located in the pool area or easily accessible in case of an emergency.
- All gate locks and latches should be checked regularly to insure they are working properly.
- A gate should never be left propped open.
- All items that could be used to climb a pool barrier should be removed from around the barrier.
Summer is a time to kick back and have fun, but if you are around the swimming pool – think about pool safety. It saves lives!
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