How I Took the Best of Earthships—And Made Them Easier, Faster, and More Affordable

For years, I dreamed of building an Earthship—one of those incredible off-grid bio homes designed by Michael Reynolds. The idea of living in a self-sufficient, eco-friendly house with a uni built from recycled materials, harnessing solar energy, collecting rainwater, and growing its own food was captivating. It felt like the ultimate path to freedom and sustainability.

But then reality hit.

I quickly realized that, while Earthships were an incredible concept, actually building one was a different story. The process was long, expensive, and physically demanding. It required specialized knowledge, permitting battles, and an unconventional design not always practical for everyday homeowners.

So, I set out on a mission: How do we take the best of Earthships and make them easier, faster, and more accessible for people like me?

The answer? OasisBioHome—the next evolution of sustainable housing.

My Journey with Earthships

I first discovered Earthships when I was 19 years old. Years later I even attended a workshop with Michael Reynolds at Ryerson University in Toronto. His passion for self-sustaining homes and achieving autonomous living left a lasting impact on me.

For 20+ years, I've followed his work closely, investing time and money to learn as much as possible. I even paid consulting fees to work directly with him and understand Earthship construction in depth.

But the deeper I went, the more obstacles I saw in having my own bio home.

Despite their brilliance and unique structure, Earthships were hard to build, expensive, and not widely accepted by local building codes. I realized if sustainable housing was going to change the world, it needed to be easier, faster, and more practical.

That’s what led me to create the OasisBioHome—a home inspired by Earthship principles but designed for real-world accessibility and efficiency. 

What Makes Earthships So Powerful?

Michael Reynolds’s vision for Earthships biotecture is brilliant— autonomous homes eliminating utility bills and working in harmony with nature. Its efficiency lies in its self-sustaining nature.

How Earthships & Bio Homes Work

Instead of relying on city utilities, Earthships use natural materials from the environment and passive design to regulate temperature, collect water, and generate electricity.

Thermal Mass Walls

Built from earth-rammed tires and recycled beer cans, these walls absorb plus store heat, keeping homes cool in summer and warm in winter.

Solar & Wind Energy

Earthships generate their electricity from the sun, storing power in battery banks so you don't have to rely on power lines for energy.

Good Mechanical Filtration, Rainwater Harvesting, & Greywater Recycling

Water is collected from the roof's internal filters, and wastes such as ammonia in water passing through other internal filters is reused in irrigation. Excess filtered water may be stored in tanks if any.

Filter Media for Beneficial Bacteria

The materials in an Earthship have an extremely porous structure, but they simultaneously break down ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates while creating an environment that supports good bacteria.

Indoor Greenhouses

Many Earthships include hydroponic and aquaponic systems for year-round food production. This supports growth for a variety of plants inside the greenhouse.

The Hard Reality of Building Earthships

The concept by Michael Reynolds is genius. If more architecture schools followed Reynolds concepts, life on earth would be vastly improved. That said, I’ve met countless people who set out to build an Earthship only to abandon the project halfway through.

1. Extreme Labor & Costs

• An Earthship requires a backbreaking, time-consuming process of pounding tires with an ideal substrate, mixing debris, sand, and dirt.
• A 1700 square foot Earthship biohome uses something in the ballpark of 800-1000 tires.
• Each tire takes approximately 30min to pound with sand, gravel, and dirt.
• This means 400-500 hours (10+ weeks at 40hrs/week of swinging a sledgehammer pounding tires) to put up the external load bearing walls.
• While non toxic materials may be recycled, the manual labor costs can skyrocket.
• Many people start building their own DIY Earthship biohomes, run out of money, and never finish.

2. It Can Take Years to Build

• The steep, upfront labour means these Earthship biohomes might take months or even years to complete.
• Many projects stall in growth because of labor shortages, burnout, or budget issues.

3. Difficult Permitting Process

• Many city officials don’t understand Earthship materials like biological filter media leading to permit denials and regulatory headaches.
• Finding builders willing to take on an unconventional project that implements various bio media for housing is almost impossible.
• Both city officials and builders don't want to take the risk of something going wrong and being held responsible.

4. The Look Isn’t for Everyone

• Earthships have curved walls, bottle windows, and exposed recycled materials that might promote bacterial colonization.
• While some love the organic look and reliable performance, others find it unappealing, with the feedback making it harder to resell or finance.

I saw these problems over and over again - but loved Michael Reynolds' world. Earthship biohomes seemed like the perfect playground for me, but I needed a home that was easier to build, making use of various media and materials to make the ideal,

I started thinking: How can we take the best of Earthships biotecture's efficiency—but make them easier, faster, and more affordable?

OasisBioHome: The Evolution of the Earthship

I didn’t want to abandon the Earthship concept—I wanted to solve its biggest problems. After years of experiments I created OasisBioHome (in partnership with WonderfulStructures), a sustainable home with all the off-grid benefits of an Earthship while eliminating construction headaches.

Unlike traditional Earthships, which can take years to complete, the Oasis BioHome can be built in 60-90 days. It also works within building codes, making it easier to obtain permits - ensuring sustainable living is more accessible than ever before.

Each Oasis BioHome comes with various media and good mechanical tools such as a solar kit, including solar panels, a battery, and an inverter. Homeowners only need to purchase a cistern and other minor components like a regular filter with good mechanical filtration to complete their off-grid system.

The WonderfulStructure Eco Green design used is beautiful and has already received high recognition in the hospitality sector. Previous models have been ranked and reviewed:

Top 5% Home on Airbnb (View on Airbnb)

4.95/5 with 296 Reviews on Airbnb (View on Airbnb)

Our lodges in Puyo were ranked #1 of 13 reviews on TripAdvisor (View on TripAdvisor)

What Makes OasisBioHome Different?

OasisBioHomes use prefabricated technology—so instead of spending months pounding tires, you can assemble your home in 2-5 days. Finish the exterior in 1-2 weeks. The rest are all interior finishes.

No Heavy Labor

The entire diameter of the exterior shell is prefabricated. This is the best media to eliminate tire-pounding or excessive labor costs.

Faster Build Time

While Earthships take months or years, an OasisBioHome can be move-in-ready in weeks.

Easier Permits

Designed to meet building codes, so it’s easier to get city approval. The home includes superior biological filtration to ensure running water in the home is safe and clean to use.

Modern, Customizable Look

Unlike Earthships, Oasis BioHomes blend into suburban, urban, or rural settings. The unique structure of the homes provide plenty of options for us to choose from.

The result? A home giving you all the freedom of an Earthship—without the struggles.

How OasisBioHomes Are Built

We took inspiration from submarine, spaceship technology, and other biohome media to create a lightweight, ultra-durable, and easy to assemble home that's able to tank the elements, rain or shine. You can rest well knowing your wood statue decorations that complement the natural aesthetic of OasisBioHome are safe from water.

Step 1: Prefabricated Assembly (2-5 Days)

The high-tech exterior shell arrives in pre-made panels. These panels snap together in just a few days instead of months of manual labor. This ensures that debris that might clog the panels and unnecessary substrates are eliminated.

Step 2: Exterior Finishing (1-2 Weeks)

The electrical rough-in is completed on the exterior shell of the structure. Following this, spray foam insulation is applied to provide waterproofing. An EPDM black pond liner is then added as a second layer of waterproofing protection. Finally, the home is buried with earth to provide additional insulation. Recent structural updates allow the home to support up to 8 feet of snow loads, making it suitable for various climates.

Step 3: Interior Build-Out (Few Weeks)

Once the shell is up, interior work—like plumbing, electrical, and finishes such as good mechanical filtration must be deployed for the home's maximum efficiency. All of these can only take a few weeks to finish.

Step 3: Move In & Live Sustainably

• 100% off-grid (passive solar & wind power) or hybrid energy options
• Rainwater collection in small canister filters & other filter media are used to insure the water passing through is free from harmful bacteria, with the filter substrate playing a crucial role in trapping contaminants
• Grow food and other plants in your own home with indoor gardens. With the home embedded in the earth, beneficial bacteria can be introduced to control nitrates and enhance your gardening experience

And because OasisBioHomes are designed for modern building codes, you don’t have to worry about permit nightmares. It's designed like an immobile bio tank that basically recycles and filters your water to be used for various purposes. Whether it be for irrigation, gardening for your plants , or even for your customized freshwater and saltwater aquariums for your pet fish at home, OasisBioHome can give you the ideal environment to live in.

Why Oasis BioHome Is The Future

People love the idea of Earthships but struggle with the reality. OasisBioHome fixes that.

• Off-grid living spaces shouldn’t be hard to build and afford. You shouldn’t have to spend years on saving money to build your home.
• Sustainability should be accessible. You shouldn’t need to be a construction expert to live sustainably. We shouldn't have to pay excessive amounts for utility bills that gets wasted and can't replenish themselves. And with top tier filter media in place, clean water is accessible anytime
• Owning your home should be easy. OasisBioHomes can be paid off in 3-5 years—giving homeowners a path to financial freedom. It also supports growth of a better lifestyle.

And the best part?

People are already loving them. Some of our models rank in Airbnb’s top 5% of properties worldwide with excellent reviews. Sustainable living is the future—but it has to be practical.

Final Thoughts

I have nothing but respect for Michael Reynolds and what he created with Earthships.

He changed the game for sustainable housing. But I also know if we want sustainable living to go mainstream, it needs to be easier, faster, and more affordable.

That’s exactly why I created OasisBioHome—to take the Earthship vision and make it something anyone can build and own. We all deserve the experience of bringing eco-living right to our doorstep without having to live far off the grid in nature.

At the end of the day, we shouldn’t have to choose between sustainability and practicality. We deserve a home that provides reliable performance

With the OasisBioHome, we get both.