How do you get a permit to build an earthship?
We worked with the Environmental Health Department of our local Health District.  Without exception, every Health and Building District has a system for reviewing experimental applications.  If you have a "normal" house, there is no need for review.  There are check boxes for "city water" and "central heat."  Once you get into houses that have rainwater harvesting, or composting toilets, there are no check boxes.  But there are review processes in place.  You just have to go up the ladder until you find a human being who has heard of experimental permits.  In our case, we had to go all the way to the State level Health Department before we found an administrator familiar with the process.

Once we found that person, we just filled out the forms, paid the fees, answered the questions and complied with the requirements.  Our permit cost us under $200, but I don't remember exactly how much.  We had to prepare over 10 pages of typed answers and technical specifications about rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling (all available from our earthship books and/or plans). Lastly, we had to agree to install meters to monitor total water in and total water out of our house.  Oddly, while these meters were required to be installed, there was zero follow up on the readings of those meters.  We just got our final certificate of occupancy after construction was finished, and that was that.

Once you get that first permit, the one from Environmental Health, you go around with it in had to all the other places you'll need permits from: building, water, sewer, etc. etc. etc.  It is my understanding that you cannot get any type of residentail building permit until after you are issued the septci permit/Environemental Health permit.  That particular permit is the starting point, and the most difficult.  After that, it is just fill-in-your-name-and-write-a-check sort of stuff.

Before we formally filed any permit, we went and met with the person who issues the permit so we could expalin the situation and ask our questions.  It was during one of these pre-application meetings that we were told in no uncertain terms that earth rammed tires would be unacceptable.


Were you able to get a standard loan?
Yes, but not at first.
Commercial banks had an issue with us for one reason: our primary water source was rainwater harvesting.   We have a standard septic system, so that was no issue.  As for greywater, they didn't care.  And as for heat, "wood stove" actually has its own checkbox on appraisal forms.  But no check box for rainwater.  The big issue was finding comparable houses to asses the value of ours.  We are the only home in our entire region with rainwater harvesting.  With no comparable, no assessment could be made. And with no assessment, there is no loan. 

We managed originally with a small, local bank with whom we had a long standing relationship.  They made the loan because they knew us.  No other bank would touch it.  Then after several years, and help re-framing our home to fit into standard assessment check boxes, we were able to switch to a national bank.  We stopped calling it an earthship on the forms, had installed a shallow well so the word "rainwater" never appeared, and stopped arguing about the kids' nooks being excluded as bedrooms because they do not have closets or doors.  Technically, our house is two bedrooms, even though we have five.  I think that the general condition of "doneness" also plays a big role.  I can only imagine an appraiser's experience at our home five years ago: mud as far as the eye could see, raw concrete floor in the house, raw dirt floor in the greenhouse, and bunk rooms drapped with old sheets for privacy.  Getting "spruced up" for the appraiser is a good idea in my book.  The more "finished" things look, the more likely appraisers are to work with you.

How much did it cost to build your earthship?
$160,000 for initial construction.
This includes the septic system, greywater recycling cell, rainwater harvesting system, water treatment system, 80X30 home, all the dirt for the berm, appliances, kitchen and bath fixtures, wood stove, and A/C.  Because we built our home out of off the shelf products (concrete and sliding glass doors instead of earth rammed tires and shop glass), we were able to keep the costs comparable to stick built houses.  This figure does not include many finishing items like tiling the floor, adding the shallow well, or paving the greenhouse. 

Was it hard to get home insurance?
No.
Our insurance cost a bit more that insurance for a stick-built house, and once again rainwater is the culprit.  Because we did not have access to a well, our fire hazard increased.  A lot.  After we installed our shallow well, our insurance dropped significantly. They liked it that it was made of concrete, though!  That was considered a safety plus.  It is my understanding that getting insurance for earth rammed tires is more challenging.

Can you help me get my permits?
Yes.
I've consulted with dozens of people over the years to help them access the right departments for filing experiemental permits.  You can contact me by email to melina at 3676 dot net for rates and services.