My project is currently still purely theoretical. I am very interested in the construction methods mentioned in the title, and my design is a hybrid of these. The entire house will be built using PET and/or glass bottles, a construction method that makes the house not only extremely cost-effective but also very strong. The south side will feature the main entrance and windows, along with a kind of greenhouse extension. The rest of the house will be covered with earth if the plot is large enough. If not, the exterior walls will also be enclosed with a similar greenhouse structure. If a rooftop terrace is permitted by the building permit/planning permission, the upper floor will be accessible from the outside over a hill and later covered with a greenhouse-style construction. If a pitched roof is mandatory, glass bottles will be integrated into the walls, along with many or large windows on the upper floor, and glass tiles on the roof. If neither a hill nor a rooftop terrace is allowed or possible, I will try to find a different plot. If this also fails, the small house will simply be placed inside a greenhouse.
The foundation and basement are also planned to be built with PET bottles. I believe that stones/gravel, reinforcement mesh, PET bottles, and waterproof cement should be sufficient. However, I definitely need expert advice here, as the foundation is ultimately the most important part of the house. The interior will be equipped using various Earthship techniques to save and recycle energy and water.
As much as possible will be built by myself, including casting the glass roof tiles. I have a lot of time but very little money. Greenhouse attachments and extensions will be added gradually only after the house is habitable. I am also considering protecting the greenhouse glass against hail, either with a protective film or by using thick, self-cast glass tiles.
Solar panels and a spiral wind turbine for electricity generation are also of interest but are rather marginal. Energy storage is still very poor. So far, the only practical storage method seems to be electrolyzing water to store hydrogen in a large underground pressure tank, then converting it back to electricity via a fuel cell. Hydrogen storage in gels is also interesting but still in its infancy. I find batteries completely unsuitable as a storage medium—without them, self-sufficiency in electricity would be pointless.
I will design everything using CAD software, but first, I want to gather all the important data and hear some opinions.
I am very grateful for any suggestions and tips.
Planning restrictions/limitations
Plot size: 80 - 100 sqm (861 - 1,076 sq ft) or larger (dependent on price)
Slope: irrelevant
Floor area ratio: no plot available yet
Site coverage ratio: no plot available yet
Building envelope, building line and boundary: no plot available yet
Edge development: unlikely
Parking spaces: bicycles will be stored inside on the wall; no car
Number of floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor accessible—no attic
Roof type: flat and accessible or pitched roof with glass tiles
Style: eco-friendly small self-build house
Orientation: windows facing south, all other sides covered with earth or greenhouse
Maximum height limits: 3-4 meters (10-13 feet)
Other requirements
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: eco-modern, rooftop terrace, hill house
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of occupants, age: 1 person, age 33
Room needs on ground and upper floor: flexible
Office, family use or home office?: no
Overnight guests per year: no dedicated room
Open or closed architecture: mixed form?
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: possible
Music/sound wall: no full wall
Balcony, rooftop terrace: rooftop terrace
Garage, carport: no
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: yes, the house will be a mix of house, kitchen garden, and greenhouse
Other wishes, special features, daily routine
House design
Who designed it: various architects + myself
Do-it-yourself: yes
What is particularly appealing? Cost, energy efficiency, plants
What is not appealing? That will become clear once it is finished
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 10,000-20,000 (own research)
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: excluding fixtures 25,000 (fixtures will be made by myself or are already available)
Preferred heating system: passive
If you had to give up certain details or extensions
- What can you do without: basement if the building footprint is sufficient, rooftop terrace if not allowed due to planning restrictions
- What you cannot do without: the custom, eclectic design; if I cannot design or decide it myself, I don’t want to build it
The foundation and basement are also planned to be built with PET bottles. I believe that stones/gravel, reinforcement mesh, PET bottles, and waterproof cement should be sufficient. However, I definitely need expert advice here, as the foundation is ultimately the most important part of the house. The interior will be equipped using various Earthship techniques to save and recycle energy and water.
As much as possible will be built by myself, including casting the glass roof tiles. I have a lot of time but very little money. Greenhouse attachments and extensions will be added gradually only after the house is habitable. I am also considering protecting the greenhouse glass against hail, either with a protective film or by using thick, self-cast glass tiles.
Solar panels and a spiral wind turbine for electricity generation are also of interest but are rather marginal. Energy storage is still very poor. So far, the only practical storage method seems to be electrolyzing water to store hydrogen in a large underground pressure tank, then converting it back to electricity via a fuel cell. Hydrogen storage in gels is also interesting but still in its infancy. I find batteries completely unsuitable as a storage medium—without them, self-sufficiency in electricity would be pointless.
I will design everything using CAD software, but first, I want to gather all the important data and hear some opinions.
I am very grateful for any suggestions and tips.
Planning restrictions/limitations
Plot size: 80 - 100 sqm (861 - 1,076 sq ft) or larger (dependent on price)
Slope: irrelevant
Floor area ratio: no plot available yet
Site coverage ratio: no plot available yet
Building envelope, building line and boundary: no plot available yet
Edge development: unlikely
Parking spaces: bicycles will be stored inside on the wall; no car
Number of floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor accessible—no attic
Roof type: flat and accessible or pitched roof with glass tiles
Style: eco-friendly small self-build house
Orientation: windows facing south, all other sides covered with earth or greenhouse
Maximum height limits: 3-4 meters (10-13 feet)
Other requirements
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: eco-modern, rooftop terrace, hill house
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of occupants, age: 1 person, age 33
Room needs on ground and upper floor: flexible
Office, family use or home office?: no
Overnight guests per year: no dedicated room
Open or closed architecture: mixed form?
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: possible
Music/sound wall: no full wall
Balcony, rooftop terrace: rooftop terrace
Garage, carport: no
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: yes, the house will be a mix of house, kitchen garden, and greenhouse
Other wishes, special features, daily routine
House design
Who designed it: various architects + myself
Do-it-yourself: yes
What is particularly appealing? Cost, energy efficiency, plants
What is not appealing? That will become clear once it is finished
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 10,000-20,000 (own research)
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: excluding fixtures 25,000 (fixtures will be made by myself or are already available)
Preferred heating system: passive
If you had to give up certain details or extensions
- What can you do without: basement if the building footprint is sufficient, rooftop terrace if not allowed due to planning restrictions
- What you cannot do without: the custom, eclectic design; if I cannot design or decide it myself, I don’t want to build it
Bauexperte schrieb:
Apart from the fact that the "description" of this pipe dream is more than confusing – what do you mean, for example, by “type of greenhouse”? – this project would not receive any approval here in Germany.There are already houses built within greenhouses in Germany. As far as I know from the forum Im Grünen, @wrobel currently still lives in such a house. However, that is carefully planned and not just some pipe dream.
Bauexperte schrieb:
You still haven’t understood how tolerant the members of this forum are.Oh yes. Discussions run quite differently on Im Grünen.
@mystd
How exactly are you planning to implement the insulation? Are you going to call that American beverage manufacturer to get the U-value of their PET bottles?
It’s nice that this thread brings you so much joy, but it would be great if you could at least take the topic somewhat seriously. I’m not saying I’ll build the house tomorrow—this will take at least a few years. The floor plan is very simple: just imagine two rooms stacked on top of each other with a front door and windows. The floor plan is also automatically generated by the CAD software. The costs will be adjusted as I go into more detail, but I don’t expect them to exceed $25,000 given the size of the house. Currently, obtaining a building permit / planning permission is definitely the biggest obstacle, but that will change in the future as the concept becomes better known. The only reasons why such houses might not be allowed in the future are what I call the “construction mafia” and the “energy mafia.” Please remember that this is still purely theoretical so far; the entire concept needs to be developed in more detail. I’m also currently working on a software that has a lot of potential. Money will then be the least of the problems. Since the future is always uncertain, I prefer to plan a very efficient house that costs little. Additionally, I have no interest in building a “traditional” or “modern” house. Those types are extremely inefficient and unattractive.
Every plan starts as a castle in the air. The term “kind of greenhouse” simply means it’s not a full greenhouse, like a 3m x 3m (10ft x 10ft) greenhouse people usually imagine, but just a small extension of about 1m (3 ft).
Every plan starts as a castle in the air. The term “kind of greenhouse” simply means it’s not a full greenhouse, like a 3m x 3m (10ft x 10ft) greenhouse people usually imagine, but just a small extension of about 1m (3 ft).
B
Bauexperte7 Aug 2015 10:30mystd schrieb:
It’s nice that this thread brings you so much joy, but it would be very polite if you would at least take the topic somewhat seriously. Then you should start by setting a positive example and engage in a serious discussion.
What you are envisioning barely has any connection with the Earthship project (which I have been following for quite some time), if any at all. This is evident from the fact that they still need EUR 80,000 in donations to complete the project. For the sake of completeness, it’s also not built “just” from bottles and earth; there’s a lot of expensive technology involved. And you casually come along with EUR 25,000 as your capital...
mystd schrieb:
Currently getting a building permit / planning permission is certainly the biggest obstacle, but in the future, once the concept becomes better known, that will change... I am also currently working on software with a lot of potential. Money will then be the least of my worries... Since the future is always uncertain, I prefer to plan a very efficient house that is low-cost. If and when that big financial windfall comes...
Lease or buy a small plot of land in a community garden (allotment) and build a weekend house on it, according to your ideas. That would not require any building permit / planning permission!
Regards, Bauexperte
For insulation, I am heavily influenced by the Earthships that have been built here in Europe. If the insulation is insufficient or gets damaged during construction, I plan to install nano or aerogel panels from the inside. Although these are extremely expensive and will definitely exceed the 25,000 budget, they can keep tents warm using only body heat. I will try to have an alternative and/or "repair" ready for every problem that might occur.
It strongly depends on the plot of land. If I have enough space, the project will resemble more of an Earthship. If space is limited, the insulation will be done quite differently. The smallest version would then be a house inside a greenhouse. However, this is not a large greenhouse. The glass is only about 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) from the house wall and mainly serves as insulation and frost protection for the plants. I will not start before I have thoroughly tested everything. I am also aware that I lack a lot of information. However, that is something that will improve over time.
I will definitely finance the whole project myself, even if I have to build it on my own over a period of 10 years.
I had already considered and dismissed the idea of a garden shed years ago. I prefer to invest my time and money in a project that will save me rent.
I will definitely finance the whole project myself, even if I have to build it on my own over a period of 10 years.
I had already considered and dismissed the idea of a garden shed years ago. I prefer to invest my time and money in a project that will save me rent.
I am currently wondering about a different aspect: The Earthship concept, as far as I understand it, primarily focuses on ecological considerations, so I assume this is an important reason for choosing this construction method in this project.
But what ecological advantage does using PET bottles as the main material actually have? It seems to be quite the opposite. If a large number of people were to build this way, it would be counterproductive, since PET bottles would then have to be produced specifically for construction purposes, or more raw material would need to be made available to meet the regular household demand for PET.
But what ecological advantage does using PET bottles as the main material actually have? It seems to be quite the opposite. If a large number of people were to build this way, it would be counterproductive, since PET bottles would then have to be produced specifically for construction purposes, or more raw material would need to be made available to meet the regular household demand for PET.
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