A Sustainable Tiny House With All The Mod Con’s

Today’s tiny house video is on The Cube Project. The project was created by Dr. Mike Page of the University of Hertfordshire. Dr. Page’s aim was to build a tiny house, no bigger than 3x3x3 meters on the inside, which would allow a single person to live comfortably (with all the mod con’s), while creating a minimal impact on the environment!

“Constructed from a variety of sustainable materials, the Cube provides everything that a single person (or two friendly people) might need. Within its 27 cubic metres it includes a lounge, with a table and two custom-made chairs, a small double bed (120cm wide), a full-size shower, a kitchen (with energy-efficient fridge, induction hob, re-circulating cooker  hood, sink/drainer, combination microwave oven and storage cupboards), a washing machine, and a composting toilet.  Lighting is achieved by ultra-efficient LED lights, and the Cube is heated using an Ecodan air-source heat pump, with heat being recovered from extracted air. It has cork flooring and there is two-metre head height throughout.

It was an important design criterion that none of the techniques or technologies used in the Cube would be solely applicable to small buildings.  When scaled up appropriately, everything we used could equally well be applied in homes and businesses of all shapes and sizes.  The Cube illustrates what we believe to be the best of low-carbon living.

The Cube is designed to generate at least as much energy as it uses, averaged over the year. It does this by using solar photovoltaic panels that are integral to the building itself. If registered with the UK Government’s Feed-In Tariff (FiT – an incentive for producing energy from renewable sources), the Cube will raise around £1000 per year in FiT income. The only connections it requires are a connection to the electrical grid, and a cold-water supply. No mains drainage is required: waste is either composted, or processed on site by a small reed-bed and soak-away.”

Via The Cube Project