Kristal Cravener

Check out Glenn Martinez from Olomana Gardens in Hawaii. He uses a single air pump to pump his water 20-30 feet in the air to his ponds and aquaponics systems.

Discussion is good. Discussion is great! If it happens, regardless of editing or making it beautiful, even if it's just a few video clips or pictures and a forum post about the general highlights of the day, I'm very interested in the latest rocket mass heater you and the innovators are trying out and coming up with. Based on how fast funds were raised for the last kickstarter, it feels like a lot of others are interested in getting to see all the awesome stuff you do and the projects you're working on as well. I just wanted to toss my two cents in the ring, I'm interested in any form you make it available in. If it's from the last event (2016, right?) then so be it, I will look forward to it.



A somewhat off topic rambling side note: I liked the ATC footage and having a copy of Tim's notes too! Sure it would have been awesome to get a bunch of close ups and something like a 3D view of all around the project via camera and maybe some Hollywood level special effects (lol) but I got my money's worth and more. Then you went and added all the extras with the 'candy' and 'thanks' bonuses, so how could anyone not have gotten their money's worth?! I've read some of the comments and replies with the feedback from the kickstarter, I did not have any problems and I feel like you guys more than merely stepped up and delivered on what was promised. Lol. So many hours of footage! And all the extras too! How could anyone have gotten the not good end of that deal?! I wish I had a skill, like knowing how to edit, lol, to be more helpful in this arena. However, since I do not have any editing skills to offer, I am more than happy to take what I can get or "eat whatever gets put on the table". Beggars cannot be choosers! You have always been more than generous with anything you make available and I have never been disappointed in any of my purchases from you yet. Never! I've got World Domination Gardening, all eight RMH DVDs and Ernie and Erica's rocket mass heater book too. Even though I haven't ever gotten to meet any of the innovators in person, it's always inspiring to get to see them and their latest creations!

An even more off topic side note: Speaking of Appropiate Technology, has anyone seen Glenn Martinez out of Olomana Garden's in Hawaii and what he can do with an airlift pump?! A single 40 watt air pump moving hundreds of gallons of water up 15-20 or more feet high!? He's got some really cool videos up on YouTube of his gardens and demos explaining how the pumps work and has even patented his own pump system.

I would love to see what you're coming up! Will there be streaming or maybe another DVD available after the event? It was awesome what you were able to do for the ATC!

Paul and the Permies team,
Thank you so much! I have not had any issues with the streaming content or downloads. Great job guys! Thank you for making arrangements to allow us access to everything! I'm glad I was able to show my support! Paul, you are so generous to have added on all the Candy and Thanks extras! A super duper bonus on top of a great deal!

Keep being awesome Permies Pals!
And seriously, thank you for all that you do and everything that you make available to the public!
Can't wait to see what you guys come up with next!

paul wheaton wrote:Earth ships have been around at least 20 years.  They have a lot of really fascinating ideas.  I read the book a long time ago.  I even remember reading something about an earthship being built and discovering a seasonal spring that would run through the house.  Rather than trying to block it, they made it into an in-house feature! 

Earth ships have a lot of really, really neat upsides.  When you read the books or watch the youtube videos you can learn all about the upsides.

Upsides include: 

- internal walls with super duper thermal mass. 

- amazing design and shape - a real good design for good solar use and having a lot of light in a home.  In fact, the designs lead to more of a "home" than a "dwelling".

- I like the use to waste products although I would far prefer to use waste products that are obviously benign.

The downsides, which are much harder to find out about:

- It takes a long, long, long time to pack those tires with dirt.  And it is bone jarring hard work.   I have heard from some folks that said that if you pay for labor, the structure will be more expensive than a conventional home.

- Tire off gassing.  When this is brought up, many people discount it.  And many emphasize it.  It is a confusing space and I suspect that the truth leans in the direction of the people concerned about the off gassing.

I agree about the offgassing. Both sides have points to consider. While it would be really awesome to pull something out of the waste stream, especially something that does not degrade or break down for such a long, long time, of course I don't want to use something that could be dangerous to myself or others at the same time. On that same note though, there are people who have build and lived in these homes for a few decades now and haven't reported any issues. So it is either a lack of an issue or a lack of reports.... I think the offgassing- is it or is it not an issue- is definitely something that I would like to see an experiment done on to prove one way or the other (hopefully, beyond a doubt). I'm not sure how or even what one would use to go about detecting tire offgassing...? I mean we have detectors for smoke, carbon monoxide and radon, etc. would it be crazy or even possible to make a detector for the potential offgassing?
http://earthship.com/offgassing
From the earthship website, an excerpt from the New Mexico Evironmental Department. Worth a read, in my opinion.


I think another one of the downsides I've read an article about or watched a video on YouTube about is the moisture problem, especially in winter. I haven't seen the earthship site dealing with this issue or mentioning it. As someone who lives in a cold, wet climate (PA), this is a big deal to consider for me as the potential results from water, flood and ice damage, may very well render this concept less useful than hoped for.

https://youtu.be/I-lwkKlfmXE


While I love the concept of the earthship design and the systems, etc... I feel like the tire pounding labor involved alone would be beyond my ability to do start to finish on my own. I have seen many failed projects online that drive the point home to either have a plan in place and work on a single "U" at a time or arrange to have help, a lot of help, lol. Although in fairness, a number of the projects seem to have 'bitten off' more than they could chew all at once and then running out of money, rather than working in stages and leaving themselves wiggle room physically and financially.

I was curious if any of the folks involved with building them have tried out a climate battery system to possibly help with the moisture? In The Forest Garden Greenhouse, Jerome Osentowski's use of the climate battery and other more recent (the past couple years) projects people have been building with annualized geosolar, air to ground heat transfer, subterranean heating and cooling, earth tubes networks/matrices, what ever name you want to call it.... it seems to me to be an interesting technology. If applied to the earthship concept, I'm curious if it would resolve the moisture issue and/or even keep the thermal mass warmer or charged longer....?

At any rate, there are certainly less laborious building methods and many, many options.

Geoff Lawton's has a solar (and battery) powered little pond pump system. It draws water from the deepest point in the pond, through the pump and directs it to a 40-50 gallon drum filled with gravel. The water trickles through and becomes aerated.


Is a YouTube video to make a pvc pump. If you were going to be away for days this might not be a good idea, lol. Anyway if you had a holding tank you could use the pvc pump to fill it then direct the water through a gravel filled drum/s as well. Depending on how long you plan to be away and how big the system is and how much water the fish pond portion could handle (if you end up draining the entire holding tank... depending on size, that could be a lot of water). You would probably need a neighbor to come by and check on it....

That's what I came up with. Hope it was helpful,
Kristal

I was interested in the ATC more than the PDC, so I'll be going for the $60 ATC & goodies bundle. I'd prefer something I can download once, rather than streaming over and over on my internet connection. However, whatever solution you come up with, I'm still going to get the ATC & goodies bundle.

P.S. Have you already posted this kickstarter to social media? I think there are many people like me that would love to take time off work and get to see, do and learn at events like these and would be interested in purchasing the videos even after the events have been held. We have a habit of finding out after the fact and missing the opportunity. Plus, you can continue to raise funds even after the kickstarter, right?

Brett Hammond wrote:Agreeing with comments above. How do I get the 200 hours of video? Download? Forever access online? My preference is DVD or Blu-ray so I can just pop it in an watch whenever I want in any tv without an internet connection, but would add considerably to cost.

Do people that watch all the video get the certificate?

I was going to ask the same, how am I watching? Limited time access or a download that's forever available? A DVD? Will you reserve the right to make it into a DVD at a later time? I have all the RMH and Gardening World Domination DVDs and would love to add the ATC 2017 to the collection!

Keep up the great content and thanks for all that you do and share with us!

Have you used the bypass valve innovation on any other RMH? I am curious how well it would do basically using it to switch between systems? For instance, just like you have it in the video one side to heat the floor and the other side of the bypass valve going to a water heater, much like the one Geoff Lawton presents that was made/designed by Tim Barker, I believe...? Since the water heater seems to only need 10 to maybe 20 minutes to heat the water, then turn the bypass valve to the floor side, etc. This way I won't have to build two...?

Going to have to find proper plans for the water heater design, although this picture breaks it down well. They must have welded the copper pipe in place...? If you know where I can buy plans for this design, if there are any available?

Thanks for everything you guys do! I loved the RMH book and all the DVDs!! You guys really break everything down and explain the why and how of it working, so I am not quite as scared to try tinkering and building in the backyard!

-Kristal