THE UNITED STATES EXPERIENCE TITLE: HOUSEBOAT TO ENERGY EFFICIENT RESIDENCES (HBEER) GENERAL INFORMATION Country: United States Coordinating Institution: Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation Other institutions involved: University of Kentucky, College of Design, (UK CoD), UK College of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (UK BAE), Stardust Ventures, LLC and Southern Tier Housing Corporation (STHC) Duration of the experience: Fall 2009 -present Webpage: www.khic.org 1) Objectives Objectives of the Houseboat to Energy Efficient Residences (HBEER) project are to 1) revitalize the houseboat manufacturing industry to save and create jobs; 2) develop a potential new product line of energy efficient modular homes through; 3) establishing a collaboration of design, financing, manufacturing and implementation partners. 2) Relevance Locally, the HBEER project has resulted in two new energy efficient modular homes being constructed by Stardust Ventures and put in place by Southern Tier Housing Corporation (STHC), a nonprofit, affordable housing developer started by KHIC. The owner-occupants are lowincome. The graduate UK College of Design architecture students, working with Stardust engineers to design numerous modular structures incorporating readily available energy 1
efficient technologies into the designs. This resulted in nearly 100 architecture students learning how to apply design theory and energy systems modeling to real-world design challenges. Students graduating from UK s graduate architecture program bring to regional, state and national architecture firms, design practice grounded in real-world constraint, design experience. The biggest surprise is how Stardust s redesign of their houseboats to incorporate energy-efficient technologies and building practices used in modular building construction has accelerated Stardust s export sales. When Stardust first approached KHIC about getting a loan, the company had 12 full-time employees. Today, they employ nearly 70 and have grown an export business to include Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 3) Concrete activities and actions Kentucky Highlands conceived HBEER and has been the organization to pursue funding opportunities supporting UK s research and design work and working capital financing for Stardust to support it through lean times and construction financing for Southern Tier Housing Corporation to prepare foundations and purchase the first HBEER homes prior to sale to homeowners. UK CoD led the design process to develop a suite of modular structures that any houseboat manufacturer could build. UK BAE guided students in energy modeling software use to optimize the most cost effective materials, technologies and construction methods to achieve maximum energy efficiency. Stardust was responsible for building the modular residences in consultation with the architecture students and faculty. But Stardust did their own research and design to radically re-design their houseboats for greater energy efficiency. This decision positioned their houseboats for oversea sales where energy costs are considerably higher than the US. 4) Achievements and results There are many achievements related to the HBEER project. The first is that in four years, Stardust s employment grew from 12 full-time employees to nearly 70 employees. Second, for the past few years, nearly half of Stardust s sales have been exports, something the company did not anticipate. Third, in the spring of 2011 when many architecture firms were laying off staff, 100% of UK CoD s graduates who took the HBEER studio were hired because of the comprehensive, realitybased work they were required to complete. Fourth, KHIC has attracted over $750,000 (including a $252,000 EDA grant) to support UK CoD s R & D work related to energy efficient modular structure design. This work and related notoriety for advanced, integrated design processes has positioned UK CoD nationally among schools of architecture. Finally, STHC has incorporated energy efficient building techniques it learned from the UK CoD s work into the stick-built homes it builds for low-wealth households. 2
5) Sustainability KHIC believes the work produced by the HBEER project is sustainable so long as the cost between subsequent modular homes Stardust builds can be more in line with stick built homes. Even if the modular homes do not become a significant supplemental product line for Stardust, the changes the company made in their houseboat designs has positioned Stardust to be a national leader in houseboat manufacturing, able to withstand economic fluctuations. 6) Lessons learned KHIC contracted with the Lake Cumberland Area Development District to be our EDA grant administrator. The LCADD s guidance has been instrumental to KHIC managing this complicated project and we would hire them again. Working with a university partner has been the most difficult part of the project because of its own complicated bureaucracy. Inevitably, with a demonstration project such the HBEER project, changes happen, but changes that have to work their way through UK s internal processes take more time than anticipated. None the less, UK has been a good partner eager to engage in this project. If an organization plans to engage a university as an implementing partner, then staff needs to try to understand how work and changes flow through a university. 7) Capacity for the exchange of this experience Cooperation modality Cooperation modalities the institution can provide to others The institution may be able to provide this cooperation to others by Information Sharing X October 2104-2105 Conference Calls X October 2014-2015 8) Author of this story Name: Stephen Taylor Title: Development Director Institution: Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation Country (if applicable): USA Email address: staylor@khic.org 3
9) Key persons involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the experience 9 a. Name: Jerry Rickett Title: President/ CEO Email address: jrickett@khic.org 9 b. Name: Terry Aff Title: President, International Division Email address: taff@stardustcruisers.com 4
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The Signs of Competitiveness in the Americas Report 2014 is a product developed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago as RIAC Chair Pro Tempore 2014 and the OAS as RIAC Technical Secretariat with contributions received by countries and institutions. Knowledge shared towards the VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum. www.riacreport.org 6
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