Earthship for Earth Day

By Diane Davies-Dixon

On the eve of Earth Day, the Silver Lake Nature Center in Bristol Township is only a few months away from completing its “Earthship” project begun last summer.

The “fully sustainable, carbon-zero building” constructed of tires and other recycled materials, surrounded by a blanket of earth to control its climate, will become the center’s new Watershed Education Building.

Lorraine Skala, the nature center’s education director and assistant naturalist, traveled to New Mexico to visit “Earthship Biotecture” architect Michael Reynolds to learn how to build one at Silver Lake.

Diane Davies-Dixon/Photo
Silver Lake Nature Center's Earthship

With new-found knowledge and the dedication of her husband and many volunteers, plans for the only public Earthship on the East Coast took shape last summer.

“Everyone has latched on to the project,” which is being paid for by a $25,000 grant from Pennsylvania Department of community and Economic Development, said Skala. “It has a life of its own. It’s been an amazing project.”

Tire City donated the majority of the tires that were later filled with earth and stacked to create the walls of the building. Eventually the tires will be covered with plaster. Some facets will be left open to show visitors how the Earthship was constructed.

Earthships are approved by FEMA for hurricane and earthquake zones, according to Skala. She noted that even though the building in Silver Lake park is incomplete, the walls still withstood Hurricane Sandy.

“They are rubber and designed to move with the earth. They will not crack and crumble,” said Skala.

The term Earthship refers to a “ship that can sail on the earth of tomorrow and accommodate the changes coming with the weather,” according to Skala.

Built as a classroom, the Silver Lake facility will contain a 224-square-foot greenhouse fronting the structure. Most of the rough U-shaped building is covered by a grass berm.



Diane Davies-Dixon/Photo
Silver Lake Nature Center's Earthship

 The thick walls made of earth and tires is designed to trap heat, a kind of “thermal mass.” It takes a year to heat up, according to the designers. What that does is store heat. When the temp drops in the room the heat will come in from the wall. When the room gets warms up, the heat will travel back into the wall to creating cooler temperatures in the classroom.

“It’s an amazing system,” said Skala. “I never felt a draft or chill or anything when I stayed in one.”

A slanted metal roof will be used to shelter the Earthship and will funnel rainwater into a cistern, according to Skala.

Bucks County Technical High School students have been involved with the building’s plumbing. More volunteers are needed including block layers, carpenters and plasterers. The nature center will supply materials.

“Living close to your resources here, you are responsible for your water and your air. The plants will clean your air and you will have really high quality air in this class,“ said Skala.

To read more go to: http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/bensalem/an-earthship-for-earth-day-taking-shape-at-silver-lake/article_04447ce9-ab52-5750-aaa7-771b2b6a2714.html