In the middle of Marina High School, a wooden framework of a tiny house sits as a potential solution for a more energy-efficient future.
Residential buildings account for more than 20 percent of energy consumption in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and each household releases about 8.7 tons of carbon dioxide per year. As concern over financial impacts and sustainable solutions grow, the demand for more efficient and resilient homes are also increasing.
Taking everything into consideration, longtime teacher Bob Meade spends an entire academic year preparing his students in the construction technology pathway in the school’s Career Technical Education program to learn building skills for residential and commercial trades. The class culminates with a final project where students build the framework of a house that they’ve drafted blueprints for, raising the walls and roof themselves.
Senior Blake Ruitenschild, sophomore student Brandon Tidwell and junior students Sabastian Alvarez and Alan Poulson built the framework for a tiny solar house with a passive solar home design, which collects heat as the sun shines through south-facing windows and retains it in materials that store heat, known as thermal mass.
“I’m hoping that as they get older and they become council members, architects or engineers, that they’ll always have in the back of their minds the concept of the way a house is built,” said Meade. “But they’ll also know that changing it slightly could reduce billions in energy costs. It could change everything.”
The design takes advantage of a building’s site, climate and materials to minimize energy use. It can provide daylight all year and comfort during the cooling season through the use of nighttime ventilation.
It took the four students two school days to build the framework of the home and to raise the walls and roof of their 256-square-foot structure.
“This kind of a class prepares young people for hands-on skills that we need in our society,” said Meade. “This small house is what we believe could be a solution for a more energy-efficient future.”
OCDE’s Media Services team highlighted the Huntington Beach Union High School District’s program in the video above.