CARBON ANALYSIS FINDINGS

There have been several methods to reduce the embodied carbon of the tiny homes, from using sustainably sourced timber and Structurally Insulated Panels to low carbon concrete and using the natural carbon-capturing properties of the site trees. The main aspect of reducing and offsetting the carbon would be the SIPs, low carbon concrete and timber materials of the tiny homes. While the trees provide carbon storage and carbon sequestering properties, it is difficult to calculate exactly how much carbon they can absorb due to not knowing the age of the trees, hence why the average of 21kg of CO2 was used for the calculations.

However, the main way of reducing carbon for the tiny homes is by reducing their operational carbon rather than the embodied carbon. The operational carbon is drastically reduced due to its small footprint, building materials and appliances. The SIPs with their airtightness and thick insulation reduce the heating and cooling costs of the home with the large windows reducing the need for lighting during the daytime. The design of the tiny home focused more on reducing the operational carbon than the embodied but can still be considered to have a low embodied carbon for the project.

The total embodied carbon of all the entire homes can be said to have a low embodied carbon with the overall final TEC of the 25 tiny homes including the transport is 104,392.914 Kg of CO2, which is equivalent to 1-2 typical UK masonry homes.

Overall the design proposition follows a simple and minimalist design to provide a more efficient and sustainable construction process and result using structurally insulated panels. Each design element from the building form, construction, and materials to the interior ensures a low carbon impact whilst still considering the user in the design. The carbon analysis also support that the tiny homes do provide a lower embodied carbon by comparing the TEC of 25 tiny homes to 2 traditional masonry homes.