The aim is to empower local community members and create skills that will foster a healthy independence from economic fluctuations. At the same time the project serves as a case study for future developers – showing that the cleanest water comes from the sky and the most reliable energy source is independent.

A practical demonstration that aside from the obvious securities of living ‘off grid,’ the best development, and consequently the best long term investment, is one that invests in the local people and community.

Click the video below for a virtual tour of sustainable development at work in Nicaragua:

We’d love to take you on a tour of this project. Just contact us to set this up.

Lauren Stocker finds more than surfing waves on her trip to San Juan del Sur, a coastal town in Nicaragua earlier this year. Much more.

Her article featured in the Malibu lifestyle magazine takes us away from the tourist streets to the community of El Carizal. There she’s handed the keys to the Earthship…

“While getting on the plane to Nicaragua, I knew I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I liked that idea. I was ready to see what was waiting for me on the other side. I knew absolutely nothing of Earthships before I made my trip. It was just some “thing” I heard they were building down there.“

She was in good hands with developer Tim Kelly and Brooke Rundle, the first certified Eco-broker in Nicaragua. Brooke is also hosting the first dedicated green real estate tours to the country with Coldwell Banker. And, yes, the Earthship is featured.

Check out the article and Lauren’s mesmerizing photo journal. The photo of the bay of San Juan del Sur at the top of this post is one of them.

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The Earthship will be featured on our Green Real Estate tours planned for later this year. We’re going to focus exclusively on environmentally conscious and socially responsible real estate developments.

Tour participants will get an inside track on everything from sustainable housing communities constructed of all recycled materials to off-grid hacienda style home lots.

Click here for more information on our eco-tours.

Today we started compacting the floors.

It looks like we’ll be laying tiles, but we have received various ideas from local builders on the best method for laying them. Ideas range from concrete slabs to laying them into the clay earth to everything in between.

There’s no rush, so we’ll be moving on to other areas of the building as we investigate local methods.

The trusses are being reset to 2′, previously spaced for 4′, the second tire (formed) window has been set, and the site has received a preliminary cleaning as all of the surplus tires have been stacked and accounted for.

They will be used to build new Earthships as the passion for green real estate in Nicaragua grows.

New hands on the worksite today. Eric and Minya are on their way from the Panama Canal to the USA via the Pan American Highway…on bicycles.

We met them yesterday on the way to Managua when we stopped for Breakfast at Chepe Chu, a little truckstop café on the road between Rivas and Nandaime.

After some story swapping, they decided they would take a couple days down to view our green building project before continuing.

They are very welcome at the worksite.

Check out the form work for the round window in the photo above (the tire will be removed once the cement dries).

The waiting game for the wood has begun. We’re not talking about that much lumber, but the complications of material acquisition in Nicaragua are becoming clearer everyday. This is all good ground work for the Earthships that will follow. And the nice thing about this green building project is that there is always plenty to be done.

Today we poured the footings for the wing walls and made an aggressive hit on the adobe interior of the two larger rooms. We have decided that the doors for the end walls and bathrooms should reach the same height as the arched doors to the bedroom and living area. The doors will be seven feet by three feet and three inches. We’re starting to see a nice symmetry emerging in the design.

The bond beams on the greenhouse have been poured and are ready to receive trusses. Leaving the site in the very capable hands of Phil Basehart and Seth Larsen (Earthship Biotecture), project manager Dave Kniffin headed off on a supply run.

Check out the Granada Tiles! (Granada is a beautiful historic colonial city located on the shores of Lake Nicaragua around 90 minutes drive away.) The tiles are hand made in Nicaragua and normally exported to the US and Spain. But they were virtually given to us by a neighboring land owner who likes our project and happens to own the company that makes them.

The building is beginning its transformation from a solid structure, to a work of art…

Thanks to Jo, Tim, and Lauren for their extra help at the site today.

Yesterday I was promised by one fellow based out of Rivas that the sand would arrive before 7:00am, an hour and a half before the road crew arrives. I was also promised by a more local building supply store that the 60 cement bags I had ordered would also arrive before 8:00am and that we were first on the priority list for the day.

As we pulled into the site at 6:55am, the truck full of 9 cubic meters of sand was already being unloaded.

The day began with more concrete work on the water catchment system, making sure all drains were slopped at the proper angle. There is also a significant amount of mud/adobe plasterwork underway and it is drying very well. This is the time of year for making mud since it has plenty of time to cure during this dry season.

But all work slowed to a crawl as the last bag of cement was consumed at about 8:30am… We were able to keep busy, but the efficiency of work was clearly lacking for about an hour. The nice thing about building Earthships, is that there will always be dirt to move or sift and tires to pound.

At about 9:45am, the cement arrived.

Of course by this time the road was impassable. As we have done before, we hiked it to the site much like ants marching up a hill.

The day continued and progress was made. Just another good Nica-story…