THIMBY: Richmond Backyard Home

Builders working on a tiny home

Project Basics 

Project Sponsor: Sustainable Housing at California (SHAC)

Amount Awarded: $5,000

Grant Awarded: Fall 2021

Project Status: In Progress 

Project Description 

Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) is an interdisciplinary team of 27 UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students designing and constructing affordable, ecologically sustainable, tiny homes. THIMBY 3.0, the third home constructed by the THIMBY organization, will be piloting Richmond’s “Tiny House on Wheels Pilot Project” ordinance, which the team recently helped renew, by constructing and leasing an affordable, net-zero-energy 240 sq ft. house in the backyard of a predetermined single-family residence in Richmond. In collaboration with the City of Richmond, TentMakers, the Richmond homeowners, and private sponsors, this home will showcase a decarbonized, affordable accessory dwelling unit (ADU) housing model for extremely low-income individuals, and an accompanying on-the-job (OJT) opportunity for existing workforce development programs.

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