Kodasema, a firm from Estonia, is busy designing a tiny prefab home, which according to them can be assemble on-site in only seven hours. The home will be made of concrete, and is expected to cost around $110,000. It will also be made in a way that allows it to easily be disassembled and moved to a new location if needed.
They’re calling this home Koda, and it will measure only 326 sq ft (30.3 sq m). It’s built out of prefabricated sections made of concrete. However, only 317 cubic feet of concrete are needed to build the entire home, so despite using this material instead of a more sustainable alternative, the construction of this home still won’t leave a huge carbon footprint. No foundation is necessary on-site, and the home can be placed on a wide variety of surfaces, including asphalt and gravel, so long as it can provide a level footing. Once it’s assembled it can’t exactly be towed around, but they do claim disassembling the home with a view towards relocating it, only takes about seven hours, though a truck and crane are needed in the process.
The home features an open plan living and kitchen area, as well as a bathroom with a toilet and bath/shower on the ground floor. The second floor houses the bedroom and laundry room. The home also boasts of a number of sustainability and efficiency features. For one, it is equipped with a rooftop mounted solar power array, which offsets it’s dependence on the grid, though the energy harvested this way is not enough to power the home.
Koda is also very well insulated and the walls have a U value of 0.1 W/m²K. Quadruple-glazed windows were installed throughout and these have a U value of 0.3 W/m²K, so overall, this home should be very affordable and efficient to heat and cool.
Apart from building tiny homes, Kodasema is also thinking about designing similar structures, which could be used as cafes, classrooms, offices or workshops. The first of the homes should be available for purchase in 2017.
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