Solution Overview & Team Lead Details

Our Organization

Dragontree Studios LLC

What is the name of your solution?

DaKine House

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

Homes utilizing an innovative design system, premium, non-toxic materials, delivered in one box, one drop, with one tool for assembly/disassembly by unskilled labor. All blockchain registered.

What specific problem are you solving?

Our built environment is consuming resources at an alarming rate. Yet, in figures referenced directly by MIT Solve, billions of people still require homes. Most of these people have no options, meanwhile, where options are overwhelming, decisions based upon environmental impacts are often impossible for confused consumers.

I have been working to solve this problem for Hawaii Island, and I believe this solution has global potential.

What is your solution?

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DaKine House is on a phygital mission to create millions of incredible, non-toxic, expandable, relocatable homes with full environmental accountability. An iconic fire, flood, windstorm, earthquake, and even lava-flow* resistant, off-grid capable home, shipped to site in a standard 20’ shipping container for rapid assembly by almost anyone following all visual directions. It utilizes a patent pending system called Hexene Architecture, based upon fractal geometry.

Simple, precision-cut components assemble atop and around the container with all stainless steel hardware using a single tool, transforming it into a sturdy foundation and pre-plumbed, pre-wired mechanical room with water catchment and filtration, and on board solar power storage. The container is not living space, but the steel mechanical room may serve as a storm shelter.

When builders need to square something up; triangles. Triangles are strong. Triangles are efficient. Triangles can make hexagons. With hexagons we can make beautiful, useable spaces. It's a shift. Not a radical shift, a radial shift. A new angle; 60° rather than 90°.  Interestingly, when we push this small change all the way back to the harvest, this simple shift  DOUBLES the full back-sawn yield from each tree! Source: US Forest Service. The shapes specified by Hexene Architecture maximize this resource to near 100%.

The all bolted assembly enables reuse and reconfiguration of components for changing requirements. Perfect for sensitive conservation and agricultural lands, rural environments, suburban areas, and semi-permanent/seasonal infrastructure.

Utilizing digital file pre-sales to predict physical material requirements, DaKine House can significantly increase the efficiency of the supply chain in the delivery of high quality homes.

Distributed production of blockchain registered files by licensed independent providers directly benefits the economies of participating communities. Online registration and sales provides access to markets for both the files and the verifiable carbon credits while also streamlining insurance.

The truth is; even if we could afford to build everyone homes with current technologies, we have neither the skilled work force nor the time to train such a workforce.

We are advocating housing in sustainable, fast growing softwoods which have been modified to achieve the desirable properties of hardwoods, sequestering their embodied carbon for many, many decades, and sheltering generations in well built, long lasting homes with zero toxicity.
Remove the home and the grass grows back. Do not, and eventually, after many years it will weather gracefully into the landscape leaving no toxic residue. That’s DaKine House.

*relocation is the only option

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

DaKine House is meant to take the guess work out of obtaining a high quality, non-toxic, eco-savvy home adaptable to the changes that occur over the course of a human lifetime.

Designed as an assembly game, accessible from a mobile device, players may configure and collect persoanl digital versions of their own DaKine House. Once pre-determined thresholds are acheived, bulk purchases of premium materials can be negotiated on behalf of all DaKine House Collectors. Obtaining foiles to complete a home enables them to mint a deed on the blockchain. The deed allows them to contract with a licensed production facilty to realize a ful home delivered in one-drop for on site assembly. All ownership tracked and registered on blockchain No banks required.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

I have been living, working and raising my family on Hawaii Island for 19 years. I have become closely tied to the community and the land, the Aina, in Hawaiian. There is a phrase here for being a good steward of the land Malama Aina, love and care for the land. I have embraced this uncompromisingly. I live, work and play on many farms on this island. It is part of me, it has made me a better person. People here are struggling. Farmers struggle to find workers, workers struggle to find housing. They've told me what they need, they've shown me what they want. They want to feell safe at home, they want to feel pride of ownership, they want to develop generational wealth. So, DaKine House. For Hawaii, and then for everyone. It is time to give back, with aloha.


Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Support informal communities in upgrading to more resilient housing, including financing, design, and low-carbon materials or energy sources.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Hawaii Island

In what country is your solution team headquartered?

  • United States

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model, but which is not yet serving anyone

Please share details about what makes your solution a Prototype rather than a Concept.

The digital design work is done. The hurdle now is a full prototype. I have done all the connector hardware, and completed a full-scale partial prototype in standard materials. Complete success! Next step is a full-scale, fully realized unit in the specified materials.

How many people does your solution currently serve?

As of yet, zero. That will change rapidly.

Why are you applying to Solve?

I an an artist. While my boatbuilding, industrial design, and logistics background enabled me to design the system, scaling will require coordination beyond my skill set. I do have a plan for how to accomplish it, but a rainforest on the side of a volcano in the middle of the ocean is no place to source a network of talent individuals. Thank you internet!

I require mentorship in licensing, accounting, legal, etc. Basically all the things Slove is set up to, well, solve.

In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?

  • Financial (e.g. accounting practices, pitching to investors)
  • Human Capital (e.g. sourcing talent, board development)
  • Legal or Regulatory Matters

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Kent Olsen

More About Your Solution

What makes your solution innovative?

The construction industry is one of the last to succesfully embrace technology. It is slow to change bogged down by tradition. I scrapped all of that, went back to first priniples, and figured out how to deliver homes to the people who need them. Something had to give. I went with labor. DaKine House rquire no prior building knowledge to assembly a robust, resilient home. The type of home we will all be requiring as climate fluctuations continue to increase.

What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?

Demonstrate DakIne House on Hawaii Island and put it into production   within one year. My prodcution partner, with 30 years experience, is standing by. He has several potential clients waiting on a prototype they can inspect.

Hawaiian Homelands alone is requesting 2500 homes. Even if they had the money for materials, there are not sufficient crews to build traditional homes at that scale in any reasonable amount of time. Parallel assembly by the pepple themselves can get the job done.



Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?

  • 1. No Poverty
  • 6. Clean Water and Sanitation
  • 7. Affordable and Clean Energy
  • 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • 9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • 10. Reduced Inequalities
  • 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • 12. Responsible Consumption and Production
  • 13. Climate Action
  • 15. Life on Land

How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?

I have not launched. Not much to measure yet.

What is your theory of change?

DaKine House provides a way for people to get themselves in. Housing is expensive, something has to give. Providing a system that almost anyone can utilize to assemble their own home from premiuim eco-savvy materials, will benefit the homeowner by providing a high value home, their community by adding resilience in the form of off-grid power and storage as well as FEMA approved water filtration, and the planet by helping to minimize our cumulative negative impact on th environment.

Showing people an alternative based on intent over tradition will enable them to more quickly access homes and the agency this provides for pursuing for a fulfilling life. They don't even have to think about saving the planet. They can remainn focused on keeping themselves and their loved ones secure and comfortable. That can't help but make the world a better place.

Describe the core technology that powers your solution.

I approached this from the standpoint of requirements. I decided interest payments should not be a requirement. Expensive labor should not be a requirement. A permanent deciscion on location should not be a requirement, and extractive middlemen should not be a requirement. What is required is high value, non-toxic, ethically and sustainably sourced materials, and a simple, efficient means of accessing them, assembling them and registering them.

Shorten any loan duration to minimaize interest payments. Allow people to buy only what is required, in stages. Utilize the power of digital technology to SIMPLIFY th econstruction process, not maximize profits or complicate it into a Katterre-like meltdown. Follow Nature's lead. Fractals. Logistical magic. Let people customize. Nothing is more personal than your home. Allow people to share in the creation and realize econimic benefits from participating. Harness blockchain technolgy to eliminate middlemen, and distribute royalties. Technology, more for less.

The digital files of the components may be collected as an assembly game anyone can play, familiarizing them with the building system and allowing them to crate their own version of anything offered through additional decorative detailing; cnc carving,  laser etching, charred finishes, etc. Submissions from a growing community creating a creative feedback loop among designers worldwide.

Economic benefits flow to physical producers, creators and their communities.

Which of the following categories best describes your solution?

A new technology

How do you know that this technology works?

Hexene Architecture is a new physical technology leveraging my experience as a boatbuilder, artist and industrial designer. Linked to a blockchain it provides an immutable ledger of ownership for anyone on the planet with an internet connected mobile device. A number scheduled to shortly 10x thanks to SpaceX. Homes are already being fractionalized. This takes it several steps further into fractalization and  P2P transactions. Anyone anywhere will be able to participate in a global real estate market, while at the same time borrowing against their equity without an intermediary. This changes everything, turning real property into verifiable personal property. These homes are more like vehicles than stationary homes. They are not permanently moored to the land, and they leave no permanent trace.The foundations are anchored with water, not concrete. Owning a fractalized portion of home means that when th ehome ever sells, the owner of the fraction is automatically awarded their share of the sale by th eprocessing of the transaction itself. No accounting required. This has already been done, but not with physically and digitally identifiable components of a home.This is merging something new with something already established in the technology space, providing a much needed alternative to decades long home mortgages.

Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:

  • Biomimicry
  • Blockchain
  • Crowd Sourced Service / Social Networks
  • Manufacturing Technology
  • Materials Science
  • Software and Mobile Applications

In which countries do you currently operate?

  • United States

In which countries will you be operating within the next year?

  • United States
Your Team

What type of organization is your solution team?

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

How many people work on your solution team?

Myself, 2 software developers who have share my vision, have volunteered to assist me.

How long have you been working on your solution?

This process began after i completed my home in 2007. By 2016, I had become more serious about it, and when Kilauea erupted in 2018, destroying over 700 homes down hill from me, I put into high gear to help my friends and neighbors. Just regaining traction after lockdowns..

What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?

This entire project is about providing housing, and a means of self expression, to as many people on the planet as possible. No exclusions of any sort here. If you are human, you need a place to sleep. If you sleep you qualify. DaKine House provides options.

Web 3 provides an avenue to maintain anonymity, if that is someones desire. Transactions can be conducted directly, with zero external assitance required. Everyone is welcome to conduct business at DaKine House.

Solution Team

  • KO KO
    Mr Kent Olsen Artist in Resonance, Dragontree Studios LLC
 
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