Looking for a earthship designer/engineer

Hello I just acquired 30acres and am planning to build a earthship in the next few years but would like to get some help with designing it. If you have any recommendations it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Take a look at John Hait's Passive Annual Heat Storage, It might be something you would like to integrate into your plan. They utilize the principle in the wofatis.
Maybe a wofati would work for you? No pounding tires

Good Luck,

Jason

Have you visited the Earthship community near Taos,  NM?

https://www.earthshipglobal.com/visit-us

Sandy

Precision Engineering does a lot of green design and engineering. They are in Oregon (Klamath Falls, I think?) and are licensed in 50 states. They do earthbag, rammed earth, tiny houses, shipping containers, etc.
https://www.structure1.com/

I don't know if they design earth ships per se, but they engineered our "earthship inspired" tire bale home. (I recommend tire bales BTW if you can get them locally; no tire pounding and the 5-ft-thick main walls go up in days). They had never heard of building with tire bales before but eagerly took it on, did the research, and added it to their bag of tricks. They added a tire bale page to their website, based on our house.
https://www.structure1.com/tire-bale-home-engineering/

Good luck with your search!

Hello Phillip and congrats on acquiring land. My husband and I coordinated the build of a studio Earthship for a Nature Center in PA. I visited the Earthship community outside of Taos in preparation. They are amazing structures. I bow to Michael Reynolds. However, they are a LOT of work. You'll need help, capital and heavy machinery. If you have plenty of this, then by all means go for it. They withstand earthquakes and hurricanes.

Are you in a dry area? If not, you'll need to modify for heavy rains and humidity. Find a local engineer/architect to help you with blueprints and local codes if that's an issue in your area. If I can be of any help, email me and I will offer what assistance I can.

I have not read up on Wofatis but would like to as Paul himself has gone from an Earthship enthusiast to a promoter of Wofatis.

Hello Phillip.
Congrats on getting your land!

I have designed, permitted and partially built a Hybrid Earthship like structure. I can't call it an Earthship, because instead of tire walls we have used Superadobe (earthbag) walls, as they are much quicker, easier and stronger than the tire walls. There are many other advantages to it, too long to list it here. Nevertheless in the design we have used the South facing glazing, with the greenhouse, walls for thermal mass, water reuse systems, etc. as I learned it working with Michael Reynolds' crew in New Mexico. I have added an air-conditioning system utilizing underground cooling tunnels.
As Lorrain said it is labor intensive, and as such, costly but not more than another structure of comparable size would be and you get a much better quality and longer lasting home for your money. Some people make the mistake of thinking earthen homes are cheaper, which is a misconception, they merely offer a better quality of living space.
If you think this experience can be useful for you, hit me up, I'll be happy to work with you, and/or send some pics.

Phillip Moore wrote:Hello I just acquired 30acres and am planning to build a earthship in the next few years but would like to get some help with designing it. If you have any recommendations it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome to Permies, Phillip.  Looks like you are in a zone 6, [lucky stiff!]
https://alderwoodlandscaping.com/blog/what-grows-best-in-eastern-washington#:~:text=Spokane%20(and%20the%20surrounding%20areas,that%20thrive%20in%20zone%206.
but wowzie! you only get 17" of precipitation/ year? In Washington State? That , I didn't expect.
I'm sure this may have some implications for an earthship. Certainly, in your shoes, I would first think about arranging for collecting water/ snow, irrigation...
I would not know how to build an earthship, so I won't presume  to give you advice here, but I'm pretty sure the climate enters for a lot in your plans, so good luck to you!

Hello Phillip, my name is Michael. I am a traveling independent builder.

I attended the earthship academy back in 2016, have worked with Earthship Biotecture several times since then on global, tropical and Encounter models. I have also helped build several independent earthship inspired builds in different climates, and designed at least one Earthship inspired building.

I'm very busy this winter but I'd be happy to connect with you to talk about your project. Congratulations!

Phillip Moore wrote:Hello I just acquired 30acres and am planning to build a earthship in the next few years but would like to get some help with designing it. If you have any recommendations it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello Phillip, Please watch this video below, our friend Alosha spent over 10000 hours on redesigning an EarthShip, fusing it with Permaculture, Sacred Bio-Geometry and 5G protection. I am sure he can help you with designing. Please let me know if you are interested and I will give you his contact.

Imagine This…
You’re building your dream home. But instead of drowning in debt, you’re using dirt—yes, dirt—from under your feet, a DIY 3D printer that squirts malleable stone, and a roof so strong it laughs at snowstorms (thanks to catenary geometry, aka "the secret sauce of arches"). Oh, and your house heats and cools itself while recycling your shower water to grow tomatoes.

Sound like a fantasy? Nope. Just another day to Build the Future :