Floating Modular Housing to Address Demand and Affordability
Jagmeet Khangura & Jason Haney
Increasing population, urbanization, and desire for coastal living creates an annual demand for housing units in coastal cities around the world that is not currently being met. The United States alone needs approximately 5 million new apartments by 2030, and the problems of housing availability and affordability are greatest in the coastal cities. These are also some of the most expensive cities in which to build housing due to limited land and constraints on materials, labor, and land. The rate that housing must be produced in coastal cities is challenged with current construction and land use practices. Globally, a few companies are producing floating housing; none appear to be focusing on permanent, large-scale floating housing. Black & Veatch proposes developing floating housing communities constructed using innovative modular approaches to provide affordable and climate resilient housing. Housing construction costs can be significantly reduced compared to traditional, land based, "stick built" construction methods. Housing built in low-cost locations on floating platforms can be moved to urban areas and moored at shore or in open water to provide thousands of new housing units at affordable costs. Although similar solutions have been successfully deployed by others, no one appears to be addressing the affordable housing need at the scale proposed here.
KEYWORDS: Modular, Housing, Coastal, Affordable, Resilient
Jagmeet Khangura is a Co-Founder of Innovative Floating Solutions at Black & Veatch, a Growth Accelerator innovation team whose goal is to develop the next generation of sustainable infrastructure to address the world’s most important needs in an affordable, sustainable, and resilient manner. Prior to working on this initiative, Jagmeet worked in the Power and Water industry for over 10 years. Her experience includes microgrids and renewable energy evaluations. She has evaluated renewable installations and microgrids at commercial buildings, industrial facilities, as well as the utility distribution system. She was active in many renewable energy projects, including resource assessments, feasibility studies, due diligence (technical and economic analysis) of specific technologies, optimization of solar plant design, and economic analyses of renewable energy projects. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California Berkeley.
Jason Haney is a Co-Founder of Innovative Floating Solutions at Black & Veatch, a Growth Accelerator innovation team whose goal is to develop the next generation of sustainable infrastructure to address the world’s most important needs in an affordable, sustainable, and resilient manner. Jason started his professional career as an officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander and deploying on a large-deck multipurpose amphibious assault ship. He then transitioned to a leadership position in public service for the Kansas state government where he managed operations and performance improvement initiatives. He currently is employed by Black & Veatch, an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a 100-year legacy of innovations in sustainable infrastructure. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography, a Master of Science degree in Administration, and is a Certified Public Manager.