Low-Carbon and Bio-Based Emergency Housing System for Northern NSW

Project Lead: Fabiano Ximenes, NSW Department of Primary Industries

Project Partners: NSW DPI, Container of Dreams (CoD), Southern Cross University, University of Queensland

This project aims to develop a pioneering, sustainable, and ultra-low cost prefabricated temporary housing system, made primarily of recovered waste cardboard and under-utilised timber materials available in the Northern NSW region. This will enable faster, cheaper, low-carbon, and scalable emergency housing delivery options, by enabling decentralised, in-community manufacture of building products using a locally available and renewable construction resource. Seed project outcomes include construction of a full-scale 20 sqm. temporary housing prototype, using a minimum of 90% bio-based product by material volume.  A cost and embodied carbon analysis will be conducted to compare the new system against existing demountable contained temporary housing systems, which typically rely on carbon intensive products such as steel.

Project Timeline: June 2024 – May 2025