SUSTAINABLE MOBILE RESEARCH TESTBED (SMRT) Remote Monitoring System

The Sustainable Mobile Research Testbed (SMRT) project is an exciting, forward-thinking student initiative that applies sustainable engineering design principles to some of the most pressing issues in communities worldwide. These issues include access to affordable housing, clean energy, and safe drinking water.

Our vision is long-term, but our need is immediate. We have been collaborating with engineers and architects from Builders Without Borders (BWB) to design mobile homes for BC communities in need.

This first prototype of the SMRT project is crucial to developing a robust design that we can test and improve further. It will be built on the UBC Vancouver campus which is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceeded land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.

Our vision is long-term, but our need is immediate. We have previously collaborated with engineers and architects from Builders Without Borders (BWB) to design mobile homes for BC communities in need.

This first prototype of the SMRT project is crucial to developing a robust design that we can test and improve further. It will be built on the UBC Vancouver campus which is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.

Sustaingineering's Building Design Team is working to design and construct a wood frame structure with the integration of other ambitious and pioneering projects from other sub-teams. Ultimately, the SMRT will be equipped with a system to track data such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar panel power, and water storage levels, and transmit this data to a central web app for monitoring. The SMRT Project will allow sub-teams to understand how their design works in real-life conditions and provide valuable learning for future improvements, assisting both internal iterations or external implementations of a new SMRT in the future.

Our vision is to share our designs with communities in need – globally – and this critical testing iteration will ensure that our future Tiny Homes can be modified for different applications.