This project description has been edited to remove personal information, but should otherwise match the distributed description of Project 677.

Project Title: Off- Grid Tiny Home

2.  Project Description

QUEST, the Queen’s University Experimental Sustainability Team, was founded in 2012. The team’s goal is to achieve self-sufficient, sustainable living. This involves creating or harvesting energy independent of the power grid, growing food, collecting, cleaning and storing water, minimizing waste and addressing many other aspects of day-to-day life. Along with these aspects of living, QUEST hopes to address the human behavior factor by designing systems that change the very way we use energy and resources.

QUEST provides an environment in which students may apply what they have learned to designing and creating sustainable projects. These projects are created to integrate sustainable engineering and design into everyday life. The projects are the backbone by which our members’ advance their understanding of environmental design and promote sustainable living. The team also participates in conferences and tradeshows revolving around the subject of sustainability.

Tiny homes are a way for people to live comfortably without taking up the space of a regular home. A tiny home can have all the luxuries of a regular home compacted into a space less than 300 square feet. By living in a tiny home a person will save energy as compared to a regular home. Many tiny homes can be made to be fully functional off grid. This project will give you the opportunity to research into existing tiny homes and derive the optimal design.  The design must be focused on developing a home that is comfortable, attractive and sustainable. The home must be able to survive a winter in Kingston and be able to function fully off grid. Keep in mind the initial cost of the tiny home and the payback period to ensure the feasibility.

3.  Key Expectations and Goals

Throughout the design process you should be considering the triple bottom line. The economic, environmental and social repercussions of the tiny home are all equally important. At a minimum, you should consider:

• – Building costs
• – Payback period
• – Energy usage
• – Savings on water consumption
• – Impact on the community
• – Comfort
• – Accessibility

The tiny home must also meet the following criteria:

• – Under 300 square feet
• – Fully functional off – grid
• – Habitable in all seasons in Kingston

4.  Potential Modeling and Analysis

Home efficiency, construction timeline, resource cost, energy analysis, financial analysis, and payback period can all be modeled.

5.  Deliverables

You will be required to submit a final design of the tiny home with supporting performance analysis. This can be done using any method of your choosing. A floor plan of the final tiny home design must be included.

6.  Delivery and Disposal

An electronic copy of your final report should be sent to QUEST following the final presentations.

7.  Health and Safety Requirements

Safety training is required for this project as students will need access to the prototyping room (108) in the ILC. Students are expected to exercise safe behavior and follow all applicable safety procedures.