SCADPads & Tiny Houses
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, May 16, 2014 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
Good morning, Jim. A couple weeks ago I toured an unusual display at the Savannah College of Art and Design at 1600 Peachtree Street. On the top floor of that parking garage three SCADPads had been set up for public viewing, so we could see what’s planned for the future.
SCAD is short for Savannah College of Art and Design, where students designed and developed tiny mobile homes that fit in an 8 x 16 parking spot. Interior decorators designed the 135 square-feet interiors to include a bed, sitting area, bathroom with toilet, shower and sink, and kitchen with a refrigerator and freezer hidden inside cabinet drawers. With no room for hanging space, clothes are folded and stored in drawers.
Of course, SCADPad wheels make them mobile, but their wheels will be removed when a SCADPad village is set up in a parking garage. Georgia’s free-of-charge display is open to the public each Saturday and Sunday afternoon through June 1st. Each SCADPad accommodates one person, which is ideal for a SCADPad community built in a garage on a college campus, but it’s much too small for a family. Don’t think I’m jumping to conclusions, when I mention families and SCADPads, because that’s coming down the pike. If you google “small homes” or “tiny houses,” you’ll be amazed at what’s being planned for the future, after the World Health Organization projection that cities will house most of the world’s population by 2030.
SCAD’s program coordinator explained why they’re using parking garages when he said, “If you look at where parking garages are located in cities, they’re usually centrally located, with many, many floors, so they provide an amazing view. It really transforms the way we see neighborhoods … the garage becomes a village — a community.”
So, how big is a SCADPad? If an adult man with out-stretched arms stood in the middle of a SCADPAd, he could touch the ceiling and each side wall. No wonder Georgia Power reported that 41 SCAD buildings with energy efficient upgrades saved 614,570 Kwh of electricity. That’s enough to take 51 homes off the power grid for a year. SCADPads may be great for students, but it sounds like we’re being down-sized to reduce energy consumption! For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.