The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI)is the leading provider of housing for homeless to low income residents in the Seattle area. LIHI owns and operates villages of 96 ft2 tiny houses for those who were previously living on the streets and provides them with resources to find jobs and stable housing.
ME 17.5 was tasked with optimizing the heating, lighting, and ventilation in the tiny houses in order to minimize energy consumption and cost and make the houses more comfortable for residents. Through the use of physical tests, building energy performance simulation, and analytical computations, the team evaluated the benefits of changing the house orientation, enhancing window performance and placement, and the impact of various insulation levels.
LIHI was then provided with a recommendation as to how to improve tiny house energy performance and an economic analysis of the benefits that would result.
Check out the article about this project in the Seattle Times!