Big Plans for Tiny House
Students come together to build net-zero house from sustainable materials
Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Tiny House Competition brought together students from civil engineering, mechanical engineering, interior design and construction management to design and construct a tiny house for the inaugural event held in October. Michelle Feasby, a junior interior architecture major at Sacramento State, was brought on by the campus team to create the overall design of the house. Competing against eight other schools, the tiny house won the award for best bathroom.
What was your role in the Tiny House?
I was the interior designer. My job was to create the construction documents, so doing the design — what it’s going to look like and how it’s going to function. I made all the choices as far as the flooring, how the systems’ going to work, the plumbing fixtures, all the lighting fixtures, our paint colors. Because I was the person with the plans part of my job also entailed communicating with the team what needs to be done.
What is a tiny house exactly?
A tiny house is everyday accommodations for living between the square footage of 100 square feet to 400 square feet. The goal for our tiny house was to be net-zero, to produce all its energy we used solar panels and a solar water heater. We tried to make it a comfortable space to live in.
What is the importance of going net-zero?
Because the house is net-zero, it produces its own energy, it doesn’t have to be plugged in to the grid. This is an important topic to be thinking about today because we’re faced with a lot of issues of how we build and use our materials wisely. Construction is one of the biggest emitters to CO2 gases, so having a low impact on the environment is something that we need to be conscious about.
What factors went into the design?
We were working with two different styles: one enjoyed the contemporary look and the other enjoyed a rustic look, so we tried to blend the two. You see a lot of natural wood elements in the exterior and we contrasted that with a darker color inside with modern fixtures.
Have you done a project like this before?
No, it’s really the first thing that I’ve built, and so it was really satisfying to see my designs built. It took 10 weeks to build the house, but it was two years into the making process.
What did you learn?
I learned a lot of what to do better in the future. What I can improve upon would be better project management and having a more developed pre-phase as far as design concept and ideas. I feel like it was a great hands-on experience that will help me in the future because it won’t be new.
What will happen to the tiny house?
Out tiny house will be placed at STORC (Sustainable Technology Outdoor/Optimization Research Center on campus) and it’s going to become a research facility for future students who will look at its energy efficiency like the solar panels and everything.
Are you currently working on any projects?
I think after the competition, I had a lot more ideas on the tiny house and my mind has started turning with design ideas. Right now, I’m working with the dean of engineering to produce renderings for improvements around Sac State such as the STORC. Of course, I want to graduate and get a job. I’m definitely excited, it’s got me motivated to look for more training on sustainability. There are a lot of interesting techniques and practices in other countries and I’ll like to be someone who introduces more innovative ideas and solutions to Sacramento.
