May 2014 Newsletter

SCADPads: Preparing US for Third-World Housing?

135 Square-Feet Homes Fit In 8 x 16 Parking Spot
Putting SCADPads to a test this month in Atlanta are a dozen students, including a male design for sustainability student who said, “I want to live in a parking garage
because there are so many out there that can be reused and re-purposed.”

Garage Becomes Eco-Friendly Village/Community
Georgia Power says SCAD participation in its Commercial Energy Efficiency Program resulted in a $245,466 rebate for eco-friendly practices. 41 SCAD buildings incorporating energy efficient upgrades saved 614,570 Kwh of electricity, enough to take 51 homes off the grid for a year.

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) explained that students designed and developed SCADPads for use by families who will be pressured to move from spacious rural settlements into cities. A micro-housing display of three tiny homes, sits atop the SCAD building parking deck at 1600 Peachtree Street. Wheels on the units are hidden to conceal their identity as mini-mobile homes. The Atlanta display is from April 12 through June 1. It may go to Houston next.

Spurred by the World Health Organization’s projection that cities will house 60 percent of the population by 2030, SCAD’s program coordinator Scott Boylston explained, “If you look at where parking garages are located in cities, they’re usually centrally located. There are usually many, many floors, so they provide an amazing view. It really transforms the way we see neighborhoods. The idea (sic) that the garage becomes a village — a community.

Picture this. A grown man standing with out-stretched arms can almost touch the side walls and ceiling in the 135 square-foot space, which includes a bed, sitting area, bathroom with toilet, shower and sink, and kitchen with a refrigerator and freezer hidden inside cabinet drawers. There’s no room for hanging space, so clothes are folded and stored in drawers. Urging folks to get used to it, SCAD Dean Steven Aishman commented, “They are practical, reusable, and they’re able to address the idea of urban living.”

They’re okay for students, but inadequate for family life.

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