Student-Built Tiny Homes Through the NICE Program
Nutana Collegiate in Saskatoon operates the Nutana Industry and Career Education (NICE) program, a full-year Grade 12 academic initiative that integrates classroom learning with applied construction. NICE is a cohort-based experience where students remain together throughout the year while completing integrated academic subjects and hands-on industry work.
Tiny house construction is one of the program’s major projects. Over the course of the school year, students design and build complete, transportable dwellings within the school’s shop environment. These are not partial builds or demonstrations; they are finished homes delivered for community use.
The program includes formal safety training and industry exposure, giving students direct experience in construction sequencing, envelope assembly, and systems integration as part of their academic credits. The work extends beyond the classroom. Completed homes have been transported from the school to communities including Big River First Nation, where they are integrated on site.
LUNOS ventilation units are installed in these student-built homes and are integrated as part of the completed wall assemblies. The use of LUNOS e² aligns naturally with the compact footprint and fabrication-based construction of tiny homes, where through-wall, low-voltage ventilation avoids ducting and simplifies mechanical integration.
The delivery of these student-built homes to Big River First Nation forms part of the Indigenous-led One House Many Nations initiative toward housing sovereignty. A documentary of that process can be viewed here:
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