Update: Get these plans for 15% off now through December 31st, 2016 with promo code christmas

Click HERE to go to buy one of these awesome packages!

So my friend Curt just told me about his new project The Greenhouse of the Future! I'll let his video do most of the explaining.



It seems like a very permaculture way to go about building a greenhouse. On their website you can see exactly how it works by clicking here.

Or you can just read on.. It says it comes down to these five things:

1. UNDERSTANDING SOLAR ENERGY
2. MASTERING THE PRINCIPLE OF THERMAL MASS
3. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PASSIVE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
4. DISCOVER & LEARN TO HARNESS PASSIVE VENTILATION BENEFITS
5. COLLECTION OF RAINWATER



Here's a few pictures of the inside of one they built:










Click here to see some excerpts from the ebook.

Click here to learn more about what you will learn from the DVDs.



Now, there are several different packages you can choose from.

There is the Immediate Streaming Option which includes:

Educational documentary (70 minutes long)
+
E-book (189 pages long)
+
Streaming available anytime 24/7. Running on PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices having a 3G / Wi-Fi connexion.
+
Invitation to participate in the construction of Greenhouses for free to learn in the field with our team this summer!

For this one, it says it would be best for someone who was thinking this:

"I am interested in green solutions, gardening, permaculture, local and organic food, autonomy, creating abundance, reusing materials, resilience and food security."

Then there is the Streaming and Physical DVD Option which includes:

Educational documentary (70 minutes long)
+
E-book (189 pages long)
+
Streaming available anytime 24/7. Running on PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices having a 3G / Wi-Fi connexion.
+
Invitation to participate in the construction of Greenhouses for free to learn in the
field with our team this summer!
+
A physical DVD delivered to your door
+
Plans, appendices & lists of tools and materials (70 pages)
+
The S.A.F.E Support Program
3 Months Included
(starting at the time of your choice)


Then lastly there is the Streaming, DVD, and Much More Option which includes:

Educational documentary (70 minutes long)

+ E-book (189 pages long)

+ Streaming available anytime 24/7. Running on PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices having a 3G / Wi-Fi connexion.

+ Invitation to participate in the construction of Greenhouses for free to learn in the field with our team this summer!

+ A physical DVD delivered to your door

+ Plans, appendices & lists of tools and materials (70 pages)

+The S.A.F.E Support Program 12 Months Included (starting at the time of your choice)

+ 3D Sketchup Plans to edit and create your own dream greenhouse!

+ 30-minute private consultation via Skype with a member of our team.

+ 10% discount on any course offered by the Solution ERA Team.

Click HERE to go to buy one of these awesome packages!

Cassie, is that you playing the guitar? lol

I love the idea and will probably get it to support it, but since taking Geoff Lawtons PDC, theres a better way to make the walls. Now all due respect to Michael Reynolds, I first saw earthships in 2004 and fell in love with them, theyre a "gateway drug" into alternative living. But he kinda had the same idea Bill Mollison had in the 70s about incorporating our garbage into our systems.

Just like the PDC's dont really get into using old mattresses to plant potatoes and such like they did decades ago, its time to get rid of the tires in walls. Geoff is going to make an "Earthship on Steroids" video where you use an excavator to dig a pond and use the fill and the excavator packs the walls, much faster and cheaper. Thats the only change id make, its a beautiful concept, and it looks awesome!!

I know some diehard dogmatics may disagree, but while im doing my earthworks anyway, id rather build my house with no toxic tires (I know they claim they dont offgas, and maybe theyre right, but why chance it to use a system that takes more time, more man hours and more money.

Not meaning to sound harsh or critical, just trying to make a good thing even better.

What's Geoff using as forms for the earth walls?

This sounds like a greenhouse system with a lot of promise; however, I found their sales technique at bit too glitzy - lots of hype and very little real information. A simple paragraph with some basic explanation a crude diagram of how they use thermal mass, passive geothermal energy, passive ventilation, and rainwater collection would be helpful.

The pictures shown do not look like a food production greenhouse to me. I can see 1 tomato plant and some basil, but the other plants are potted tropical ornamentals on a bed of beach sand. The pretty girl in the hammock isn't going to get enough food from that greenhouse "to never have to leave your property " as promised in the trailer.

I am tempted to pay for the streaming as I am currently researching the design of my own greenhouse and am especially interested in passive solar energy storage. I am concerned, however that this group isn't really raising food in their greenhouse, so their design may be more for a photogenic hang out space. Does anyone have more information on this? I guess they do offer a 30 day guarantee .

In a lot of respects, I agree Mary.

They say cheap but don't give even a ballpark of $/sq ft.

Another consideration is that earthships require an incredible amount of work.

And of course, your climate is going to have a huge impact on what you can grow. In my cloudy, northern climate (Chicago), where the day lengths are really short in the winter, I'm not expecting to be able to grow a whole lot in the winter.

Lots of things to think about for sure.

They can't show much more or they have nothing left to sell. All the subsystems are shown in other places with free directions for building them.

Also just looking at what they did show I see 3 major subsystems that are likely missing from the design for it to be truly optimized general purpose design. It looks like they are on the right track but still have a ways to go.

If this greenhouse is a genuine integrated food production system, you sure can't tell from the ad!

Personally, I am waiting for the release of Jerome Ostenkowski's book - you know, the guy who's been growing bananas at elevation in the Rockies for a couple decades. http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_forest_garden_greenhouse:paperback

While it looks interesting, I'd prefer just the ebook (watching videos isn't my style of learning at all- sends to straight to sleep!)- which isn't an option. And would it be useful to someone in Europe? Very different climates- even the USDA climate zones aren't particularly useful over here- we may not be cold but we have winters with barely any light, and its very very damp.

I'm very excited by the possibility of moderating thermal swings and extending greenhouse growing seasons in cool to cold temperate climates through the use of both Annualized Geothermal Solar (AGS) methods and Underground Heat Exchange System (UHES) methods. AGS stores excess greenhouse heat, especially during the summer, in dry earth underneath the greenhouse so that it conducts upwards into the greenhouse on an approximately 6 month time lag. This requires that some insulation be used, buried in the ground around the greenhouse, and on the contra-sun side of the greenhouse. UHES is used to moderate diurnal temperature swings by recycling both heat and moisture into shallowly buried clay tubes under the dirt floor of a greenhouse.

Geoff Lawton has a video out where he visits a large community glasshouse located in the cold mountains of Canada to find out how they used AGS to heat their system over winter without costly power bills.

http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/76555-heating-your-glasshouse

For more about UHES, see this:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/T4470E/t4470e0c.htm#9.2.%20the%20underground%20heat%20exchange%20system%20of%20protected%20vegetable%20cultivation

Some of the important concepts for AGS were pioneered by John Hait (which he called Passive Annual Heat Storage), originally intended for earth shelters. One of his original articles is here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/passive-annual-heat-storage-zmaz85zsie.aspx

Also see this thread:
http://www.permies.com/t/3033/wofati-earth-berm/Passive-Annual-Heat-Storage

None of the links seem to function.... keep getting "This webpage has a redirect loop ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS"
Anyone else having this problem?

Gary Grata wrote:None of the links seem to function.... keep getting "This webpage has a redirect loop ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS"
Anyone else having this problem?

which links are you referring to?

I was referring to all the links in the 'greenhouse of the future' post, but realized it was my browser that was the problem.

Hey everyone - Curt is launching a new online course! I've posted a thread with links and information on his Ulele campaign here.

Hello!
I am researching this project for a friend who is looking into buying this dvd & plans.
HAS ANY BODY BUILT THIS GREENHOUSE?
I see a lot of "reviews" saying, "they look forward to building this greenhouse", but, no experiential data.
I see lots of advertising but, very little pictures of results.
Also, I am not a fan of bringing tires into a living environment.
The friends are living on a suburban lot & have no experience building, would an ordinary couple be able to build something like this (10x20') & how much $$?
Any other questions they should research before they buy this heavily marketed set of plans?

I could not get the permies code:tmun20 to work.  I assume that that coupon is no longer active.
Michael

Michael Heath wrote:I could not get the permies code:tmun20 to work.  I assume that that coupon is no longer active.
Michael

Hey Michael, I actually noticed that the other day, and their customer service just got back to me with this new discount code, valid through December 31st - use christmas for 15% your order