Can Tiny Houses Solve the World’s Biggest Problems?

How can we not love tiny houses—they’re just so darn cute! And they’re weirdly aspirational for those of us who daydream about paring down to almost no worldly possessions and living the simple life in 300 square feet even more than we swoon over mansions. But here’s the news: These freakishly minuscule habitats might actually have practical, even important, functions in the real world. Or, at least, many a designer hopes so. Read on about the global ills that may have a tiny solution.

Global warming

The principals of Elevate, a Hawaii-based tiny house company, set out to create an innovative structure (pictured above) that they say will “help care for nature” while serving as a microhome, office, cafe/bar, or retail store. They also hope that their structure “can help transform a community in making an impact in the environment.”

How to accomplish such lofty goals? The proposed 250- to 400-square-foot prefab structure, atop a 40-foot tree-trunklike pedestal, has “living walls” covered in greenery to reduce air pollution. It also has a rainwater collection system that filters to a tank in the trunk, which helps weigh the structure down. The structure requires no new land development—it’s designed to perch above a parking spot.

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Homelessness

The ever-present problem of homelessness is on the rise in America. In January 2014, some 578,424 people were homeless on any given night. In Nashville, TN, a tent city in a church “sanctuary” has been partly supplanted by six one-room, 60-square-foot houses, each costing about $7,500 to build.

This is Infinity Village at Green Street Church of Christ, which is “joining a national trend of homeless housing solutions through micro-home villages,” USA Today reported.

Some others include the tiny house community Occupy Madison in Wisconsin; Quixote Village in Olympia, WA; and Community First Village in Austin, TX.

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The housing shortage

Have you heard about Los Angeles? It’s really, really expensive. It’s also sprawling, with many a single-family home planted amid a lot of empty yard space. So, to help Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of adding 100,000 housing units by 2021, students at UCLA designed the Backyard BI(h)OME. That’s right: It’s designed to be easily erected in your yard.

The 500-square-foot structure has solar panels, a greywater recycling system, and a compostable toilet. It ought to help ease that global warming problem, too.

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Silver Tsunami of aging boomers

Some 72 million Americans will be over 65 by 2030, and the vast majority of them want to stay where they are for as long as they can. Many single-family homes aren’t set up for aging in place, but there’s another way to stay on your own property: Build an ADU, or accessory dwelling unit. It’s a solution more communities are warming to, as they seek to create more multigenerational housing.

We’re quite fond of Seattle-based Method Homes’ Balance S-M-L series. When it gets to your site, it’s 95% complete. But it’s on the pricier side, starting at $95,000 for a 565-square-foot studio.

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