Introduction

At the beginning of our research into architecture and construction that encapsulates the principles of sustainable architecture, we came across a house being built near Bancroft, Ontario. The Potter House is a house that typifies "Earth Homes", or "Earthships", a building style invented by an American architect by the name of Michael Reynolds, responsible for the development and running of a company which he calls Solar Survival Architecture. Reynolds' goal through architecture is to develop a building design that is accessible to anybody who wants to build their own home. More importantly, his aim is to make housing construction economically accessible and easy to construct by the owner, regardless of any building construction now how whatsoever. Finally, the philosophy that drives the construction of all such Earthships is the belief that we must use less energy and resources than conventional housing construction in order that we may co-exist peacefully with our environment. Chuck and Pat Potter built an Earthship on a beautiful site south of Bancroft. The building that they built serves both as their home and office. The house itself is equipped with solar power, is designed and set on the site to receive the benefits of passive solar energy, they recycle all their water consumption and convert their bodily wastes to fertilizer. The house is completely self-sufficient and non-harmful to the environment that it shares. The Potter's have succeeded in building a home that embodies the principles of sustainable architecture and self-sufficient living.

What attracted us to the Potter House was the use of recycled materials in the very construction of the building itself. The structural walls of the building are built out of used tires densely packed with earth. The used tires are laid in a staggered fashion, similar to the mode in which bricks are laid to construct a conventional heavyweight building. The spaces between the tires are filled with used aluminum pop cans and then the walls are covered and smoothed with plastered concrete. The house is strategically set facing south so as to take advantage of passive solar energy, which is maximized by extensive window glazing. The layout of the house itself consists of "U" shaped modules which are open to the south facing glazing. The arch of the "U" modules extends into the earth mound behind the house. The thickness of the load-bearing tire walls (which also serve as a foundation for the entire building) introduces the additional advantage of thermal mass heating: the regulation of temperature achieved through the mass of a structure. The architect that designed the Potter House was Toronto based Martin Liefhebber, now well known for the innovative design of the Healthy House, also located in Toronto.