BOULDER, Colo. — At Boulder Technical Education Center, better know as Boulder TEC, students in the construction program have already built picnic tables, benches and sheds. Each new project teaches them skills for a career.
But future Boulder TEC students will be able to add something even bigger to their resume: a whole house. The Boulder Valley School District is working with the city to annex land on the Boulder TEC campus to construct a factory. Inside that facility, students at Boulder TEC would work with Habitat for Humanity to build modular homes.
Boulder TEC principal Arlie Huffman said it will be an opportunity for students to bring everything they learn together.
“From the design, all the way through the finished work and everything you can imagine that goes into a house,” Huffman said.
Modular construction is a growing industry, with potential to address an affordable housing crisis.
Senior manager of housing and human services for the City of Boulder Jay Sugnet said housing has been a concern in Boulder for decades. The City purchased the Ponderosa mobile home park in north Boulder with the goal of eventually replacing many aging mobile units with permanent structures. Sugnet said modular housing is a more efficient approach.
“One of the challenges with a typical (Habitat for Humanity) build is that they could take 10 years potentially to build 73 units, whereas this allows them to set a home in place on the fixed foundation in a single day,” Sugnet said.
There are still hurdles to clear before the factory can be built, so in the meantime Habitat for Humanity is currently working on traditional homes at Ponderosa. Huffman is hoping to have his first students working in the factory by 2024.
“One the things we hear all the time from the students is they want to be able to give back, they want to see the impact of what they’re doing and the positive impact on the community,” Huffman said.
There will be a community meeting Thursday, September 29th at 4:30pm in the BVSD board chambers at 6500 Arapahoe in Boulder.
