CRTC material to be used in veterans' tiny houses

PORT ANGELES — The Composite Recycling Technology Center and Pennies For Quarters have teamed up to build two dozen tiny homes using CRTC's advanced cross-laminated timber system, it was announced this week.

The 24 homes for homeless veterans, ranging from 240 to 400 square feet, will be built on a 7-acre site just west of Port Angeles that Pennies For Quarters purchased last March.

"We are honored to be working with Pennies For Quarters" said Dave Walter, CEO of Port Angeles-based CRTC.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to assist our homeless veterans and show how an under-utilized timber species like coastal western hemlock can be combined with carbon fiber to provide an advanced building material that is very strong and durable."

The cross-laminated timber panel uses coastal western hemlock that has been thermally modified to make it resistant to mildew, rot and insects, according to a joint press release from the Port Angeles nonprofits.

The interlocking wall panels are integrated with recycled carbon fiber to add significant stiffness and strength, officials said.

"The panels provide the beauty and calming effect of wood on the interior and eliminate the need for drywall, while providing a very strong, highly durable and quiet wall system that will hold up extremely well over the life cycle of the housing," the announcement said.

Pennies For Quarters purchased a lightly wooded site at the end of Devanny Lane off Airport Road to build a tiny home community for North Olympic Peninsula veterans and their families.

The patent pending advanced cross laminated timber system provides for fast construction, as each home can be built in three days or less once the foundation is in place.

The tiny homes will be energy efficient and will target achieving zero total energy consumption, officials said.

Pennies For Quarters — www.penniesforquarters.org — continues to raise funds for the project to help homeless veterans.

"As a military veteran, I know first-hand some of the challenges that our brave service men and woman go through during re-entry," said Matthew Rainwater, Pennies For Quarters founder and president, in the release.

"Securing the needed funding is all that stands in the way of achieving our vision of providing a hand up to homeless vets by offering a clean, safe place to live where residents can get the counseling and the other social services they need to help get their lives back on track."

Rainwater was not immediately available for further comment Wednesday.

The tiny houses will be built in clusters around a central facility that will include a cafeteria, laundromat, worship center and meetings room for counseling, therapy sessions, job training and other meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, Rainwater said in a prior interview.

Homeless veterans will be allowed to live in the homes for up to two years to get their lives in order.

Background checks will be conducted on prospective residents, and participants will sign a code of conduct that will include no alcohol or drugs on the premises.

Single homeless veterans will occupy the 240-square-foot tiny houses. Families of four will live in the larger, 400-square-foot homes.

"This is about working together to help our homeless veterans," state Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend said in the joint release.

"It's great to see the state supporting this effort through the Clean Energy Fund and I hope this creative partnership is something we can replicate to help homeless veterans across the great state of Washington."

Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Connie Beauvais said the port has worked closely with the CRTC to find ways to increasingly use the vast timber resources in Clallam County.

"This effort will create jobs in our community while improving forest health by increasing the value of an under-utilized wood species like coastal western hemlock," Beauvais said.

To donate to the project, click on www.penniesforquarters.org/donate.