I’ve often wondered how the few intrepid individuals living on houseboats anchored at docks in the Hudson River on Manhattan’s Westside could make a go of it year-round. Perhaps designer Wyatt Little’s Uboat - a sustainable, off-grid houseboat concept – might make life on the water a little more practical, self-sufficient and comfy.

Mr. Little’s idea for a floating home would utilize the many meandering waterways that criss-cross our urban landscape. The self-sufficient Uboat would provide for all its energy needs via 3 roof-mounted solar panels and a geothermal heating & cooling system designed to run through a dock piling (I presume this would require a permanent dock site).

A green roof would absorb CO2, emit oxygen and create a natural cooling system for both the boat and its neighbors. A rainwater capture and purification system would store purified water in a tank in a glass partition wall in the boat’s interior. An industrial PAR pump on the vessel’s hull would collect grey water for sewage and utility water use, while an incinolet toilet would incinerate septic waste.

Floating, off-grid urban living. Nice.

related: green architecture