Fall 2019 Update

The school bells have rung, the students have returned, and the tiny house has moved closer to construction. This summer was a blur, but we were able to finalize our building design, connect with more donors, work with Western on siting the house, and even speak with a fellow tiny house researcher from across the nation.

This summer, ZeNETH also had to say good-bye to a number of amazing student leaders including Olivia Dingus and Aisaya Corbray. Olivia’s ability to strategize and navigate the University’s systems was critical to our success – the University of Wisconsin Madison is now lucky enough to have her as an economics graduate student. Aisaya, our resident urban planner, stayed on ZeNETH over the summer to coordinate and manage the project and the many relationships we’ve cultivated across the region. Her dedication to housing solutions will now be felt by the Low Income Housing Institute  where she will continue to advocate for equitable housing.

Since the start of this project our work has held onto the mission of being available to all through open-sourcing. We wanted to design something that others could learn from and repeat for their own needs, and thanks to the incredible Dave Kangas at A1DesignBuild we have achieved something quite worthy of imitation. The full building plans for our net-zero energy tiny house are available for free on A1’s site, and on our Design page. Drool away, building nerds.

A1DesignBuild. Western Solar. Sanitary Services Company. Silfab. Trane. Foundation Restoration. Our donor list keeps growing and we are progressively humbled by the generosity of these local businesses. When they show up to the table I can tell that they actually care about the work we are embarking on. One aim of ours has been to not create the slickest most high-end tiny house possible, but to create something that is absolutely replicable on personal and commercial scales. However, it just so happens that these local companies do top-notch work and when they come together on one project like ZeNETH a beautiful thing happens: we witness what it’s like when people are inspired to work together and envision a home that reflects our shared values and the potential for our shared future.

Our project is still in need of raising funds to help see us through the siting stage for bringing the tiny house to campus. We have added a donate button to our home page for donors to make a tax-deductible contribution directly to ZeNETH through Western’s Foundation. Those funds will go immediately towards this last leg of our work.

With so much still to say, it appears I will have to write another blog post soon. However, I will leave you with this tantalizing tiny house morsel. Dr Maria Saxton of Virginia Tech reached out to ZeNETH this summer to ask us about our project as she had just completed her doctoral research in, “measuring the ecological footprints of tiny home downsizers”. Amazing, right? I will dedicate an entire post just to Dr Saxton’s work, but for now I will just repost her fancy infographic below (full file at bottom) which helps make a very intriguing point about environmental impact and tiny houses.

Happy Fall all!

Final-Infographic_M.Saxton_July-2019

An Interview with A Builder: A1DesignBuild

This entry is our first installment in our donor interview series. Over the course of this highly collaborative project, we will be speaking with the donors that are making this work truly come together, in order to find out what drew them to ZeNETH, and how their work aligns with this project. 

If it’s Thursday morning at 7:45, you can find three sleepy eyed students, a professor, and two professional builders discussing building plans around a table in a cozy office space in Bellingham. Since March, 2019, A1DesignBuild (formally A1 Builders) has come on board the team as our presenting partner for Project ZeNETH. They have gone above and beyond to donate all of the time and labor necessary to complete our mobile tiny house, and to do it right.
I sat down with A1’s co-owner and general manager, Patrick Martin, to talk about what drew them to our project, and how it relates to their broader mission.

A1: A Company With Heart, Mind, and Soul

A1DesignBuild is no stranger to giving back to its community, as my conversation with Patrick makes clear. He and the rest of the A1 crew work hard to align their own values with the work that is takes on. A1 is now an employee owned co-op, but did not start that way. Over the past four years, it has transitioned to that model for a variety of reasons, namely to create a more dynamic and equitable working environment.

Interested in discovering what is possible through a co-op model, A1 is involved in encouraging other traditional businesses transition to cooperatives, or at least B Corps, like the much loved  Aslan Brewing. “A co-op is able to give agency to those that have already given so much to a business.” Patrick said. Given Patrick’s past career in education as an instructor at Huxley College of the Environment, engaging collaboratively, as in a co-op, with complex issues gives fuel to Patrick’s fire. “It’s just more interesting to work with people, plus I am not interested in doing it by myself!”

Their interest in building cooperatives has attracted the attention of a professor and researcher at Western Washington University. Dr. Gail Goulet studies transformational psychology and is using A1 as a case study for examining how a company navigates that uncommon transformation. Just like with Project ZeNETH, the ambition to be part of a greater, more dynamic conversation with better information is at the heart of A1’s mission.

Project ZeNETH

ZeNETH is the first high performance volunteer housing project A1 has undertaken. The interest is driven by a deep interest in providing impactful housing and education to those in need, and doing it in a way that is well organized and executed. ZeNETH aligns with A1 in that we both strive to provide a deeply educational experience to our community and uses whole system thinking.

Currently, A1 is also working with Habitat for Humanity on a project on Telegraph Rd in Bellingham where they are helping to develop 5 housing units. Last year, they completed two mobile tiny houses – one for a local veteran in need of housing, and another for the Kulshan Community Land Trust.

“A lot of our company’s work is in helping people take care of the most expensive item of their life: their house.” Clearly feeling responsible, and in some ways protective, of his clients housing needs, and especially those living in substandard houses, Patrick works hard to align the values of A1 with the resources available. Decrying the low quality, or even toxic, buildings that are thrown up quickly, especially in this time of high housing demand, Patrick is adamant that building it right the first time is the responsible thing to do. We tend to agree.

Looking Ahead

During a discussion of climate change, the conversation turned towards the ripple effect that green building and energy efficient technologies may have on the global issue. While neither of us feels especially confident in the overwhelming reality of global industry and culture driving climate change, we understand we have a role in addressing it and being part of a better reality. “It feels better to do what feels important, whether or not it has a great impact. It’s really just important to find something engaging and meaningful to do. ZeNETH is interesting because it gives people a way to step outside of themselves and see what’s possible.”

We want to thank Patrick Martin, Dave Kangas (A1’s lead designer and estimator) and the whole A1 crew for meeting with us every week and taking on this project. We truly could not, and would not want to do this without you.

Our Amazing Friends

We all know that it takes a village, it takes a team, it takes working together to make an idea come to life. Tiny houses are no exception, if you can believe that. Thankfully, through the course of this Frodo-esque journey, the students of Project ZeNETH have made some friends along the way, and have established something of a fellowship.

Now because we have this unique opportunity to work together and share critical information about sustainable buildings, we’d like to share what we learn with you. We are excited to announce that our team will be interviewing representatives from each of our respective donating organizations and businesses over the summer and fall seasons, so that people around the world can learn who supports work like ZeNETH.

These donors include: A1DesignBuild (formally A1 Builders), Western Solar, Sanitary Services Company, Outback Power, Trane, and Foundation Restoration. 

Check back soon for the first installment of our tiny house interview series!

Spring Renewal

Happy Spring everyone!

Known as perhaps the most exciting but least productive quarter at the University, our team is hoping to take our work to the finish line of this academic year. We’ve noticed that when the sun comes out here in the PNW, people tend to forget their winter-selves a bit and lose track of everything they might have been doing. Before we run out to enjoy the budding blossoms and chirping chickadees, here’s what we’ve been up to:

  • Building a working relationship with local construction company and worker owned co-operative, A1 Design Build. A1 will be taking on the construction of our tiny house. (!!!) This is a major partnership and an incredible opportunity to work across our community with partners who believe in the same learning-by-doing idea that formed ZeNETH.
  • Presenting at the WWU TEDx Salon where Kellen will discuss ZeNETH and the need for actionable education within our schools. Kellen will also continue his work as a fellow for the IDEA Changemakers on Western’s campus.
  • Collaborating with Western’s Facilities Development and Capital Budget to design and implement our siting plan on the University’s campus
  • Envisioning all of the possible uses of the house while on campus, including its potential use as a recording studio or venue space for live performances and podcasts! The house will be a tour destination for many potential students, but also the thousands of students whose educations link to ZeNETH

Clearly, we have another full quarter ahead of us and we’re looking forward to every bit of it. Thanks for reading!

Thanks Iron Street!

When it comes to forming a team there are many factors at play. However, when it comes to dressing as a team there really is just one clear path: Team T’s. This is where Iron Street Screen Printing comes in the picture. Iron Street stepped up to the plate and has provided our team with an amazing shirt to represent our tiny house passion.

We are so fortunate to have partners like Iron Street in our hometown who are looking to support driven students on a mission.
You can find have Iron Street design your own Team T’s and check out their great design work here at: https://www.ironstreetprinting.com/

Cheers!