Colin is the recipient of an R.W. Kern Center Student Grant, which funds research or projects relating to an aspect of the RWKC’s systems, mission, or to the Living Building Challenge.

For my Division III project, I’m building a sustainable and mobile tiny home that is focused on energy efficiency and resource conservation. My goals for the project are to improve my own skills in sustainable design and construction, and to model an affordable and small scale home with minimal negative environmental impacts. These goals fit right in with the R.W. Kern Center’s mission statement—my project will serve as a model for positive change in residential construction, specifically by reducing consumption to be more sustainable.

My project consists of two main parts: designing and building a sustainable tiny home on wheels. I completed the majority of the design during the fall of 2019 and now I’m working on converting the shuttle bus I purchased, which serves as the vehicle platform and envelope for the tiny home, to a fully featured living space. The RWKC grant is helping me cover the cost of my solar system, my tiny home’s most expensive system. The solar system is essential in enabling my tiny home to operate off-grid—it will power everything in my home, from the fridge and lights to small devices like phones and laptops, and even the water pumps that operate the shower and provide fresh water!

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