Backyard Carbon Sinks: A prototype for a net-negative carbon accessory dwelling unit

The Backyard Carbon Sinks project asks whether a design can simultaneously address embodied carbon, operational carbon, and critical social issues such as affordable housing. Specifically, this project explores opportunities for net-negative embodied carbon building through the design of a modest, prototypical accessory dwelling unit (ADU). ADUs have received growing attention in the last decade as a possible solution to issues of affordable housing, density, and multi-generational housing.1,2Alongside this, due to their size and relative simplicity, ADUsalso present a unique opportunity to experiment with de-carbonizing the building sector and to explore residential buildings as potential carbon sinks. Given the potential number of ADUs that could be constructed in the near future3, this could be a significant opportunity for de-carbonization while also starting to address the multivariant housing crises facing many cities and municipalities.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.110.9

Volume Editors
Robert Gonzalez, Milton Curry & Monica Ponce de Leon

ISBN
978-1-944214-40-1