Support Sustainable Housing for Developing Countries

Months after the 2004 Tsunami hit southeast Asia, the only available shelters were makeshift metal homes that were nearly unlivable. Because wells were contaminated with salt water, tsunami victims were dependent on drinking bottled water trucked in by the government.

But the people of Indonesia had all the materials they needed to build sustainable homes. Using recycled plastic bottles as bricks and digging wells to collect fresh rainwater, architect Michael Reynolds designed and built a home with a natural cooling system and running water that could withstand a 9.0 earthquake.

Experimental designs like these that use local materials have the potential to help countless people living in poor conditions to have secure, energy-independent homes.

To overcome poverty people must have access to their most basic needs -- including safe, livable shelter and drinking water. Support funding and development of experimental designs to address the housing needs of developing countries.