The Eco-House Initaitive Website is still under construction.
Our Motivation
The world faces unprecedented challenges from continued population and economic growth, rapid urbanisation and climate change. There are currently seven billion people in the world. By 2050 this will have grown to nine billion, with 80% of them in the developing world. Considering that the built environment is responsible for 40% of total carbon dioxide emissions, what will happen if the developing world grows unsustainably?
Sustainable Innovations in the built environment
The Eco-House Initiative is a multidisciplinary programme that aims to facilitate truly sustainable growth in the context of poverty and climate change in the developing world. The Initiative links academics, industrial partners, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and governments in the development of sustainable housing solutions and urban planning for the developing world. We research, design and build with local organisations with the aim of introducing affordable sustainable housing systems and communities for the urban poor, as well as raising awareness of the issues of sustainability and poverty in the region.
Work To Date
Since our launch in 2011, we have been working to develop and implement technical improvements to transitional housing in partnership with Un Techo para mi Pais ('A Roof for my Country'), an organisation that operates in 19 out of 20 countries across Latin America. They have built more than 80,000 transitional houses with the help of some 420,000 volunteers, and are growing fast - almost 32,500 houses were built in 2010 alone. The Eco-House Initiative is currently designing innovations to improve the durability and quality of service provided by Un Techo para mi Pais's transitional house, with a prototype due to be completed and constructed in Cambridge in March 2012. Further prototypes will be built in Ecuador and Brazil this summer as more volunteers are sent on in-country field-research placements. The plans for the Initiative are to shift the main focus onto permanent housing design systems, with a full-scale permanent housing pilot project in Ecuador and Brazil by summer 2014.
A Powerful Network
The Eco-House Initiative is currently working in partnership with local organisations and governments in Latin America to carry out research into eco-friendly communities and permanent housing systems that are appropriate to the developing world. Strategic partnerships have been agreed with South American Municipalities, providing the Initiative with unparalleled access to information across all aspects of the urban planning system and setting a strong basis for future collaborative research.
We also have the support of the Eco-House Initiative research cluster, a collaboration between leading academics in the Departments of Engineering, Architecture and Land Economy as well as the Cambridge Engineering Centre for Sustainable Development and the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research.
With the support of a growing network of academics, industry partners, strategic partners in the local municipalities, Un Techo para mi Pais, Cambridge University Eco-House Research Cluster and of course their invaluable student volunteer base, the Eco-House Initiative is well on its way to deliver truly sustainable solutions to the housing challenge in the developing world.
Get Involved
There are boundless opportunities for industrial partners to participate, whether through sponsorship, pro bono work on the design or as advisors on innovative practice. To find out more about how you or your organisation can get involved, please contact the Eco House Initiative team:
Email: contact@ecohouse.org
Please take a look at Eco House Initiative's video to see how they and the biggest NGO in Latin America are working together. By viewing, you are supporting The Eco House Initiative in the Royal Bank of Scotland Enterprising Student Society Accreditation competition for an exciting amount of funding.
