Booth, C A; Horry, R; Isaac, C; Mahamadu, A M; Manu, P; Awuah, K G B; Aboagye-Nimo, E; Georgakis, P and Prabhakaran, A (2022) Earthship buildings: opinions on their contribution towards sustainable alternative housing in the UK. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 176(4), pp. 192-198. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
Earthship buildings are marketed as being an epitome of sustainable alternative housing. Built by reusing or repurposing mostly reclaimed urban waste products, their design includes the utilisation of low-embodied-energy materials, passive solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic power systems, rainwater harvesting and solar hot water heating, along with black- and greywater-treatment systems. This study explores stakeholder opinions of whether Earthship buildings can contribute towards the future of alternative housing in the UK. Opinions were sought through a questionnaire completed by UK members of online social media groups whose shared focus is related to sustainability (n = 50). The results reveal that the public believe that the main benefits are their minimal environmental impact and also their reliance on renewable energy resources, while the main barriers are identifying suitable building plots and obtaining the necessary planning permissions. Notwithstanding that the participants included in this study already have sustainability interests, it is surmised that the public deem that the general principles of Earthships are an acceptable choice of alternative home/living. However, while the uptake of Earthship homes proves increasingly popular in some parts of the world, the utmost concern within the UK setting is the reality of finding somewhere suitable to build an Earthship and acquiring necessary authorisations to construct the building.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | alternative living; off grid; sustainability; sustainable construction; UN SDG 12: responsible consumption and production; UN SDG 13: climate action; UN SDG 7: affordable and clean energy; waste management |
| Index terms: | clean energy, photovoltaic, social media, renewable energy resource, sustainable construction, hot water heating, waste management, environmental impact, questionnaire, housing, consumption, rainwater |
| Subjects: | sustainable construction, consumer economics, environmental impact, waste management, construction type, environmental engineering, data collection methods, energy systems, technology adoption |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, Digital Applications, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here