Increasing population, urbanization and desire for coastal living creates an annual demand for housing units in coastal cities around the world that is not currently being met. The United States alone needs approximately five million new apartments by 2030, and the problems of housing availability and affordability are greatest in the coastal cities. These are also some of the most expensive cites to build housing due to limited land and constraints on materials, labor, and land. The rate that housing must be produced in coastal cities is challenged with current construction and land use practices. Globally, a few companies are producing floating housing; none appear to be focusing on permanent, large-scale floating housing.
Black & Veatch proposes developing floating housing communities constructed using innovative modular approaches to provide affordable and climate resilient housing. Housing construction costs can be significantly reduced compared to traditional, land based, “stick built” construction methods. Housing built in low-cost locations on floating platforms can be moved to urban areas and moored at shore or in open water to provide thousands of new housing units at affordable costs. Although similar solutions have been successfully deployed by others, no one appears to be addressing the affordable housing need at the scale we are proposing.
In the News
- From the Catskills to the Gulf, Projects Prove Promise of Green, Sustainable Infrastructure - from Black & Veatch's 2021 Water Report
- World Conference on Floating Solutions 2020: Floating Modular Housing to Address Demand and Affordability
- World Conference on Floating Solutions 2020: Lessons Learned from Floating Infrastructure Projects
- Generation STEM Podcast: The Floating Housing Episode
- 02.11.2021 On Black & Veatch and Affordable Housing - How to Leverage Sustainability as a Creative Problem-Solving - Forbes
Meet the Team
Jagmeet Khangura is a Co-Founder of Innovative Floating Solutions at Black & Veatch, a Growth Accelerator innovation team whose goal is to develop the next generation of sustainable infrastructure to address the world’s most important needs in an affordable, sustainable, and resilient manner.
Prior to working on this initiative, Jagmeet worked in the Power, Water and Wastewater industry for over 15 years. Her experience includes resiliency planning, utility planning, microgrids, transportation electrification, energy storage and renewable energy. She has worked on projects of varying size including rural microgrids, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, military installations, and utility distribution system.
She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California Berkeley and is a licensed Chemical Engineer in the State of California.
Jason Haney is a Co-Founder of Innovative Floating Solutions at Black & Veatch, a Growth Accelerator innovation team whose goal is to develop the next generation of sustainable infrastructure to address the world’s most important needs in an affordable, sustainable, and resilient manner.
Prior to starting this initiative, Jason trained project managers and executed performance improvement strategies. With over 25 years in the military, public, and private sectors, Jason has experience in management, leadership, operations, and program analysis. He has implemented and managed initiatives in fields varying from naval operations, government social services, to the nuclear industry.
Jason holds a BS from the University of Kansas, an MS in Administration from Central Michigan University, and is a Certified Public Manager.
