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**Blacksburg, Va., April 24 – What the Future Holds:** This is the Futurehaus, which is currently located on the Drillfield until the end of April, where it then will be moved either to Moss Art Center or near New Classroom Building. Photo: Sydney Ditmar

by Sydney Ditmar–

As an innovative campus, Virginia Tech has sponsored many new projects over the years, including the creation of the Futurehaus. This house was created in order to help discover a new and more efficient way to build homes that are both convenient and technologically advanced.

According to Futurehaus Virginia Tech Center for Design Research, the efficiency comes from the “cartridge” concept of the house which makes it easier to change out different components of the house, like cabinets, in order to fit the owner’s needs.

So what are the next steps for Futurehaus now that it has been created?

“After we take it to New York, we are going to take it down to the innovation campus in Alexandria to show it off for a few months and then after that it’s going back to Dubai for the Worlds Fair Expo in 2020,” said Will McRae, a Futurehaus team member and an architecture student at Virginia Tech.

After their win in Dubai back in 2018, which according to Builder Online included first place in two categories as well as top three in three other categories, more doors have opened up for the team in order to create concepts similar to Futurehaus, but for different purposes.

“We’ve been looking into disaster relief prototypes with FEMA, looking into developing a 300 unit housing unit in Virginia Beach with Pharrell Williams, which is pretty cool,” said Bobby Vance, the Visiting Instructor and Team Leader for the Futurehaus project.

Vance also described how the cartridge concept has really helped develop even more ideas beyond Futurehaus, including a SMART apartment complex that will be located on Virginia Tech’s Campus.

“We are now doing a new faculty apartment for a SMART dorm that is going up behind the Graduate Life Center,” said Vance.

This faculty dorm will include the cartridge concept as well, but these cartridges will be produced off campus and then brought on to campus and placed in each dorm unit depending on the faculty members needs.

Vance described these cartridge concepts as not only making renovations easier but accessibility easier as well. It allows homeowners to have more control over the space that they live in instead of having to constantly adjust to the permanent space they are stuck with.

“It is you taking ownership of that space,” said Vance.

The Futurehaus team is excited for what their future holds as more and more projects upon up for them to be a part of. They are changing the world, one house at a time.

Blacksburg, Va., April 24 – Goodbye bed: The bed can easily fold up into the wall in order to create more space in the room for a home owner. Photo: Sydney Ditmar

Blacksburg, Va., April 24 – Technologically Savy: The house comes with its own computer that allows users to create grocery lists, do homework and other facets as well. Photo: Sydney Ditmar

Blacksburg, Va., April 24 – Mobile TV: The Television can easily be flipped in order to face the adjoining room/office space next door. Photo: Sydney Ditmar

Blacksburg, Va., April 24 – Self guided tour: Visitors can access their own personal guide using a QR code in order to learn more about the Futurehaus. Photo: Sydney Ditmar

Blacksburg, Va., March 1- **The Multi-Modal Transit Facility**: This is the general plan for the facility itself; it has to bus loops for buses to quickly drop off and pick up students. Photo credit: Sydney Ditmar

by Sydney Ditmar–

The Virginia Tech bus system is always improving, but as more students come to Tech, it has become more difficult to control the traffic on campus as well as the overwhelming amount of students that take the buses. The creation of the Multi-Modal Transit Facility is to aid in these issues on campus and to provide one centralized location for buses.

“It is just going to get easier to get around campus, for everyone,” said Chitti Raju, an Alternative Transportation Specialist for the Department of Alternative Transportation.

The MMTF will not only include the two bus loops, but also the creation of a new centralized building in front of the parking garage.

“The building will probably be mostly used for the people who are waiting for the Smart Way bus,” said Debbie Swetnam, the Regulatory Manager at Blacksburg Transit. She predicts that not only the Smart Way bus system will come to Blacksburg, but other bus systems as well would be able to converge at the Multi-Modal Transit Facility.

According to the Virginia Tech Facilities Department, the MMTF will also have meeting spaces and a bike share area as well for students and staff to use.

One of the biggest additions to this area is the amount of “green space” that will be available for students. Swetnam described the green space as an area for students to be able to sit and meet on campus. There will be many seating areas and grass space for students to take advantage of with this new facility. According to Virginia Tech Daily, the creation of this “green space” will also increase pedestrian safety with the creation of new walkways.

They hope to begin construction in 2020 so that students and staff can have access to this new and improved system.

Blacksburg, Va., March 1- **Debbie Swetnam**: Debbie is the Regulatory Manager at Blacksburg Transit. Photo credit: Sydney Ditmar

Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 28- **Chitti Raju**: Chitti is an Alternative Transportation Specialist for Alternative Transportation at Virginia Tech. Photo Credit: Sydney Ditmar

Author: sydnd96

Future for Futurehaus

Hub to ease campus traffic, transportation woes