FOCUS Consulting recently participated as a sponsor in the 2025 Hack-a-House competition, a student-driven challenge designed to inspire creative solutions to the growing housing affordability crisis. Hack-a-House is organized by Ivory Innovations, a nonprofit academic center at the University of Utah, bringing together students from a variety of disciplines. During the 24-hour virtual event, participants worked in teams to develop proposals for real-world housing challenges. These ideas ranged from novel financing models to compact housing designs and thoughtful policy reforms.

The competition focused on three key areas: innovative finance solutions to help first-time buyers access home ownership, affordable construction and design concepts such as accessory dwelling units or micro-homes, and policy recommendations to increase housing supply in high-demand neighborhoods. Students engaged with industry mentors, prepared slide deck pitches, and presented their solutions live online.

“We believe meaningful change begins with fresh ideas combined with technical expertise,” said Ben Duzett, Site Civil Department Manager and Partner at FOCUS. “Sponsoring Hack-A-House allowed us to invest in innovation—not only in design but also in how people think about building, financing, and policy. It’s inspiring to see students bring new energy and innovative thinking to some of the biggest challenges in our communities.” In addition to being event sponsors, FOCUS team members served as judges in the competition and worked directly with student teams as mentors and consultants.

Engineers, planners, and designers have a critical role in addressing housing affordability. Supporting this event reflects FOCUS’s ongoing commitment to building stronger and more sustainable communities.

Competition Innovations

Hack-a-House awarded more than $12,000 in prizes to winning teams whose solutions demonstrated how interdisciplinary thinking can lead to real impact. Some proposals included modular microhomes to reduce construction costs. Others presented creative shared equity models to make ownership more accessible. Students also proposed zoning reform plans to support increased density. Several winners were invited back to pitch their ideas at Ivory Innovations’ Ivory Prize Summit, providing an opportunity to bring their concepts beyond the competition.

Ian Cahoon, Director of Innovations at Ivory Innovations, reflected, “Each year, students come to Hack-A-House ready to challenge assumptions and propose novel ideas to tackle housing affordability. Seeing partners like FOCUS mentor teams, offer technical guidance, and invest their time and resources in these students’ success is truly inspiring. Their support plays a critical role in turning creative ideas into grounded, buildable solutions.”

Sponsoring Hack-a-House reinforced three important ideas for the FOCUS team: the power of student creativity and energy; the importance of integrating engineering, design, and policy; and the ability of practical, interdisciplinary solutions to make a real difference in housing affordability. FOCUS looks forward to continuing to support and learn from the next generation of innovators. By backing student-led innovation, the company hopes to help turn bold ideas into actionable and buildable solutions for communities throughout the Intermountain West.