Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge: Innovative Models in Modular Housing
1 LU | HSW
Course Description:
This webinar will explore the role of innovation in breaking down systemic barriers to housing access and affordability by sharing an overview of the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge program, and diving into two innovations in modular housing – 1) Module’s Last Mile Network and 2) cdcb and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP’S DreamBuild. Learn from architects who are challenging the status quo and creating scalable delivery systems that are energy efficient, adjusted to fit a community’s needs and aesthetics, and building equity through homeownership and workforce development. The discussion will include sharing inspiring success stories as well as a candid conversation of challenges.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about modular housing innovations that expand access to housing for people who are systemically marginalized and promote health, resilience, and economic mobility
- Understand the importance of resident choice, workforce development and empowerment in designing affordable housing systems
- Gain familiarity with the resources and support needed to foster innovative housing solutions
- Build skills in questioning traditional approaches and re-imagining systems that break down barriers
Speakers:
Michaela Accardi, Senior Program Director, Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge at Enterprise Community Partners
Benje Feehan, Executive Director of buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Brian Gaudio, Co-Founder and CEO of Module
About the Speakers:
Michaela Accardi is a Senior Program Director with Enterprise Community Partners, where she manages the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, a $20 million national program. The Challenge works to identify and propel implementation-ready innovations that transform current practices and reimagine access to affordable homes. Michaela's work is focused on community development through equitable process design and decision-making. She has worked across professional research, nonprofit, and local government sectors on initiatives ranging from rural arts and placemaking to zoning and land use. Michaela is passionate about housing and brings her expertise in designing and leading intentional gatherings that build community and clarity for action. Her work has taken her to the Rio Grande Valley, rural Appalachia, São Paulo Brazil and many places in between.
Benje Feehan is an architect, artist, and educator. His work focuses on the union of creative practices and a deep understanding of place to dismantle systemic injustices evident in the built environment. As executive director of buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, Benje is responsible for leading [bc] through its next season of design justice through community engagement. Feehan has worked with residents and clients to design and construct socially and environmentally responsible architectural solutions to some of our cities’ most pressing issues. This work has been recognized with numerous awards.
Brian is co-founder and CEO of Module, a Pittsburgh-based modular housing company whose mission is to bring attainable housing to more people. Trained as an architect, Brian worked in Blue Sky at Walt Disney Imagineering developing new ride concepts for the Disney Parks. At the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, he worked on affordable housing and community planning in post-Katrina Biloxi, Mississippi. Later, Brian served as a Fulbright Scholar in the Dominican Republic where he conducted research on green infrastructure and disaster resiliency at Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in Santiago. In 2016 Brian co-directed “Within Formal Cities” a feature length documentary about the global housing crisis, which has since screened in over 20 cities worldwide. In addition to his role at Module, Brian serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Missions, a non-profit organization focused on providing sustainable access to clean water.