August 2026. The sun is relentless. It has been for weeks. Across the Attert valley, the meadows have lost their lush green colour and the grass along the roadsides is yellow and parched. Dust rises from the dry ground. The trees are already changing colour and shedding their leaves.
In the middle of this landscape, just behind the Atert-Lycée in Redange, stands a building devoted to questions that feel particularly urgent this summer: How do we manage water when it becomes scarce? How can we keep our homes comfortable without relying on energy-hungry air conditioning? And how can we live well while using fewer resources?
The Äerdschëff was designed to operate as independently as possible from external utilities. Rainwater is collected in cisterns and reused several times. Electricity comes from photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine. Vegetables can be grown in the garden and stored in a naturally cool underground cellar. “But it is not only the way the Äerdschëff manages energy and water that sets it apart from a conventional house. The way it was built is unusual in itself,” explains Sophie Pixius, a member of the association that runs the Äerdschëff.
The unique construction method behind so-called Earthships was devised by the US architect Michael Reynolds as far back as the 1970s. Most Earthships are now located in New Mexico, where an entire community lives self-sufficiently. Such buildings are less common in Europe. The Äerdschëff in Redingen is, in fact, the first Earthship in the world to be used for public purposes.
The building is characterised by its use of natural and reused materials. A particularly striking feature is the solid north-facing wall, made from second-hand tyres filled with earth. It is embedded in an earth embankment. The substantial mass stores heat and helps to stabilise temperature fluctuations.
Numerous volunteers helped build the wall in Redange. Today, a small viewing window in the main meeting room reveals its internal structure. Just above the skirting board, another element of the low-tech concept is visible: the outlet of the natural ventilation system. Outside air is drawn through long pipes buried underground. As it travels towards the building, hot summer air is cooled by the surrounding earth. At the same time, warm air inside rises and escapes through ventilation openings.
The glazed south-facing façade captures the low winter sun and brings warmth into the building. In summer, the sun is higher in the sky. The orientation of the façade and the roof overhangs then ensure that significantly less direct sunlight enters the building. Together with the large thermal mass and natural ventilation, this helps to keep the interior relatively cool even on hot days.
Simple, but brilliant
Ingeniously simple, you find yourself thinking as you walk around. It is the art of achieving more with less. And that is one of the Äerdschëff’s fundamental principles – one that the association also aims to pass on through its many workshops and training courses.
The Äerdschëff is not intended to be a show home that provides ready-made solutions. Rather, it is a hands-on learning laboratory: a place where people can experiment, observe and discuss sustainability.
LEADER has supported the initiative from the outset. As so often, the programme helped get the project off the ground: from 2014 onwards, it funded the development of the concept, the participatory construction process, workshops and training courses as well as awareness-raising campaigns. Construction of the building itself was made possible through funding from the Luxembourg government, which also owns the property.
A positive vision
The association behind the project advocates a participatory model of society in which everyone has an equal opportunity to help shape the future. Its activities are aimed at people who refuse either to be paralysed by fear or to resign themselves to the climate crisis, and who instead want to find ways of taking action. People who may feel that time is running short, but that it is not yet too late. “We want to bring people together and develop a positive vision with them. Constantly painting pictures of catastrophe does not get anyone anywhere,” says Sophie Pixius.
A series of events is also currently taking place as part of a LEADER project, which engages the audience in creative and playful ways. However, more traditional formats such as theatre performances, film nights and board games are also designed to attract the local population to the Äerdschëff. The association also provides information on innovative, environmentally friendly modes of transport, such as the Karbike, a hybrid between an electric bicycle and a car.
“We want the Äerdschëff to become more firmly rooted in the region,” Sophie Pixius stresses. One of the aims of the current LEADER project is therefore to raise its profile: “Unfortunately, many people have still never heard of us.”
Through its training courses, workshops and hands-on projects, the association supports anyone who is striving to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, who wishes to understand climate and social challenges, and who wants to develop their environmental autonomy. Its motto is: Every action counts; every bit of knowledge shared contributes to the transition.
The most important message, therefore, is not that we should all live in Earthships in future. Rather, the ecological transformation is a societal challenge that we must tackle together. After all, sustainability means more than simply replacing one technology with another.
Text: Martine Hemmer, Photos: Martine Hemmer, Äerdschëff asbl.
