In 2020, the studio became a member of a group called the Workforce Solar Housing Partnership (WSHP). This group eventually came in include the following organizations, who pledged to collaborate on projects that could demonstrate affordable, sustainable workforce housing:
– Habitat for Humanity of the Northern Flint Hills
– Manhattan Area Technical College
– Flint Hills Job Corp
– The Home Builders Institute at Ft. Riley
– The Manhattan Housing Authority
– The Flint Hills Renewable Energy and Efficiency Cooperative
The studio engaged WSHP collaborators to design a 3-bed, 2 bath all-electric home that would be net zero, built collaboratively by students in WSHP programs, and would feature a PV array installed by the FHREEC co-op and WSHP volunteers. Similar to the studio’s prior project in St. John, the home would be purchased by an income-qualified family through Habitat, who would also GC the project for the educational partners. The project’s target sales price was $150,000. The studio explored two different projects sites: a group of sites in Manhattan and a vacant lot in Ogden, on which the project was eventually built. The house was completed and sold in early 2022 through Habitat for Humanity.
Process. The studio researched the workforce profile in Ogden and Manhattan, using a housing market snapshot to present the breadth and characteristics of local housing affordability issues. Students developed conceptual design and SD schemes individual during the fall, which they presented to project stakeholders along with detailed site analysis for the two sites. The studio met with a local financial counselor to better understand barriers and pathways to homeownership, and interviewed trainees in the WSHP’s workforce development programs to learn more about their individual needs and goals for housing.
Students developed CDs and prefab shop drawings in early spring of 2021 and completed the prefab panels in less than two weeks in the shop. On site assembly of the home’s shell took one week, and was completed in the final week of the spring 2021 semester. Students and faculty from three different programs — the Net Positive Studio, Fort Riley’s Home Builder’s Institute, and Manhattan Area Technical College — worked on site in a mixed crew.
Students: Salim Akli, Justin Cresswell, Aimee Farrell, Conrad Hively, Zachary Jensen, Autumn Kayl, Kyler Milligan, Atia Rahman, Harley Schuster, Abigail Steinert, Travis Surmeier, and Alex Weber.
Supported by the studio’s involvement, our Habitat partner received several grants: $2,500 from Huber, $3,500 from Simpson Strong-Tie, $25,000 from the regional electric utility Evergy, and numerous in-kind donations.
The Net Positive Studio 