Solar Heated earth sheltered homes
Taos County has always been a place for innovative building and creative homes. The "earthships" which were designed by Mike Reynolds were some of the first passive solar homes built to take advantage of the 300 plus days of sunshine in Taos County. The houses were built to face south to southeast. The north side of each home was burmed with dirt and windowless. The houses had glass across the entire southside and the building itself was the mass that would store the heat admitted by the glass walls. The earthship was designed to deal with water and waste issues. The first houses were constructed using beer cans and bottles which were filled with dirt and then used as the exterior walls. The newer model of earthship uses used tires packed with dirt to provide the exterior structure. Water was collected off of the roof and stored in cisterns attached to the homes. The earthships have evolved over the years and some of the original problems have been addressed. If you get an opportunity to visit the Taos area, make time to go out a see the "Greater World Community" which is a subdivision of earthships.