Wildfire House

Wildfire HouseSafe & Sustainable Infrastructure

A winner of IC-IMPACTS’ Call for Proposals: Innovation in Design and Construction of Low-Cost, Resilient, Energy-Efficient, and Safe Housing for First Nation Communities, the Wildfire House Prototype aims to create a replicable model for culturally specific, sustainable, and healthy housing. This project is a partnership between the Yunesit’in community, which is a part of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, and the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

This will involve several interrelated processes that address the following question: How can innovations in home construction resulting from an Indigenous community-led process mitigate documented health problems associated with the inferior indoor air quality of on-reserve housing? Air quality issues in on-reserve housing in Yunesit’in are often attributed to mould, overcrowding, poor ventilation, and other factors — now exacerbated by climate change-induced wildfire smoke.

The project will include five key elements:

1. data collected via a household survey of IAQ related issues and concerns within existing Yunesit’in houses,
2. building code and technical recommendations for IAQ mitigation,
3. logistical coordination and improvements in locally-sourced construction materials and labour
4. technical drawings for the construction of a house prototype to be built in Yunesit’in, and
5. post-occupancy evaluation and home management protocols.