An earthship is a type of passive solar house made of natural and recycled materials. Designed and marketed by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico

Taos, New Mexico

Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...

, the homes are primarily constructed to work as autonomous building

Autonomous building

An autonomous building is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, gas grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and in some cases, public roads.Advocates of...

s and are generally made of earth-filled tires, using thermal mass

Thermal mass

Thermal mass is a concept in building design which describes how the mass of the building provides "inertia" against temperature fluctuations, sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect...

 construction to naturally regulate indoor temperature. They also usually have their own special natural ventilation system. Earthships are generally Off-the-grid

Off-the-grid

The term off-the-grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities....

 homes, minimizing their reliance on public utilities and fossil fuels.
Earthships are built to utilize the available local resources, especially energy from the sun.