Curaduría Cero is a program launched by the Colombian government in 2017, which focuses on formalizing the houses constructed without building permits and whose value does not exceed 135 times the minimum monthly wage in Colombia, which is approximately $33,750 US. The legislation which established Curaduría Cero was enacted in 2017 by President Juan Manuel Santos, but it took some time before the Curaduría Cero offices were operational and able to provide services to the public. In 2018, Bucaramanga and Medellin set theirs up, and at the end of 2020, Mayor Claudia Lopez launched Plan Terrazas in Bogota. The main goal of the Plan Terrazas program is to provide the services of a Curaduría Cero, called Curaduría Publica Social in this case, streamlining acts of recognition (a kind of retroactive construction permit that includes the required minimum structural and habitability … Read More
When I Met Build Change / Noong Makilala Ko Si Build Change
A bilingual blog in English and Tagalog by Ritche Miñoza, Builder Trainer, Philippines When I was a young man I was already in the construction industry. When I got married, I had moved to Guiuan, Eastern Samar, when an unexpected typhoon arrived, Typhoon Yolanda. After the typhoon many organizations gave aid, and one of those was Build Change. Noon pa man ay marunong na ako sa konstruksyon. Binata pa ako ay nasa konstruksyon na ang trabaho ako. Nang makapag-asawa ako ay lumipat ako sa Guiuan, Eastern Samar. Sa hindi inaasahang pagkakataon ay dumating ang isang napakalakas na bagyo, iyon na nga ang Bagyong Yolanda. Matapos ang bagyo ay marami ang nagabot ng tulong sa Pilipinas at isa na doon ang Build Change. Together with TESDA (the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), Build Change looked at the situation and condition … Read More
My Experience Designing Assessment Tools in Partnership with the German & Philippine Red Cross
By: Samantha Lisay, Architect and Designer, Build Change-Philippines One of my first projects with Build Change was to design forecast-based financing resources for the German and Philippine Red Cross. The aim of forecast-based financing is to use science or forecast models to identify where to give aid even before a disaster strikes. This specific project focused on lessening the damage to vulnerable housing caused by typhoons by temporarily strengthening them 2-3 days before the forecasted storm. Build Change was tasked with coming up with resources such as an assessment form, shelter strengthening guide, and a post-disaster assessment form to make this rapid strengthening response possible. Designing Material Resources As Build Change’s resident designer, I quickly jumped into creating these materials, only to realize that this was not an ordinary design challenge. When designing the assessment form, we took into consideration … Read More
Everyone Asks: How About Sustainability?
Challenges to Disaster-Resilient Housing in the Philippines
Roel Ombao – Project Engineer, Build Change I joined Build Change- Philippines in mid-2018, because the program caught my attention. I am interested in working to support low income families so they can have homes that are resilient to earthquakes and typhoons, events which are not new to every Filipino. I have done several post-disaster reconnaissance surveys after earthquakes and typhoons and it breaks my heart to see houses collapsed and hear the stories of someone passing away after being crushed by a collapsed wall. After working for almost two years now with Build Change, I have come to realize that disaster resilient housing is a complex issue with many challenges, a few of which I will highlight here: First, Money or Access to Financing: Low income families are not catered to by most commercial banks and lending institutions. Most … Read More
Sometime in Nepal
Delivering Value in Resilient Housing
Bridging the Gap: Tech to Non-Tech
Enough is Enough
I Survived a Typhoon; Now I Train Builders on Disaster-Resilient Housing to Protect Other Families from the Same Thing/ Nakaligtas ako sa Bagyo; Ngayon, tinututruan ko ang mga Builders ng tungkol sa Disaster-Resilient Housing para maprotektahan ang iba pang mga pamilya mula dito
Home Safe Home
How to Recover from a Pandemic: Lessons from Build Change’s Experience in International Disaster Response
A home built by Build Change in Banda Aceh, Indonesia as a part of the recovery from the Boxing Day tsunami. Special Note: Echoing Green interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Hausler in January 2005 to talk about the impact of the Boxing Day (December 26th, 2004) tsunami on communities surrounding the Indian Ocean. Earlier this year, that disaster commemorated its 15th Anniversary, but the lessons learned in the aftermath of that tragedy are surprisingly timely to the global Coronavirus pandemic. We’re resharing a section of Elizabeth’s interview because it’s a step-by-step prediction of what the global recovery from Coronavirus could look like. Introduction from Dr. Elizabeth Hausler: What a unique moment we’re in. This is perhaps the first time (in the social-media era, at least) that the world has suffered a GLOBAL disaster of this scale at the same time. It’s important … Read More
150,000 People in Better Housing: Nepal 5 Years On
Dear Friends of Build Change, Five years ago, in the wake of a massive 7.8 earthquake that instantly destroyed more than a million homes in Nepal, Build Change began its most ambitious post-disaster program to date. Nepal today is a country with better, stronger, safer housing, achieved through Build Change’s powerful combination of resilient building, national housing policy change, and pioneering technologies designed to empower homeowners to rebuild better. Thanks to Build Change and its partners, more than 150,000 people are living in over 24,000 newly constructed or structurally strengthened houses. Through “Build Back Safe” community engagement—forum theater, awareness flyers, and a retrofit awareness movie— Build Change has reached at least 378,000 people across all 32 earthquake-impacted districts. More than 52,350 homeowners seeking advice on how to rebuild have visited the network of Technical Support Centers operated by Build Change and … Read More
Resilient Housing in the Philippines, in the Era of COVID-19
By: Jessica Stanford, Country Director-Philippines The COVID-19 pandemic is without doubt an unprecedented event, impacting lives, communities and economies around the world. As governments and nations work together to implement prevention, containment and mitigation measures, families from California to metro Manila are instructed to #stayhome, #shelterinplace to help curb the worst of this public health crisis. But what if you’re one of the 1.2 billion people who live in substandard housing today? What if you’re a low-income household that depends on daily wage income now threatened by changing dynamics? How will this impact your capacity to shelter, safely in your home? The World Bank estimates that three billion people will live in substandard housing by 2030. In the Philippines alone, 70 million people live in substandard housing, and this is projected to grow to 113 million people by 2030. Housing … Read More
Safety Starts at Home: An Update from Build Change Regarding COVID-19
Dear Friends of Build Change, With millions in self-isolation or quarantined around the globe, homes are the front line in the battle against COVID-19. More than perhaps ever before, our homes are the center of our lives, and our retreats (forced or not) from an uncertain world. My hope is that wherever your home is, it is a place where you feel safe riding out this disaster. I know that I am increasingly grateful every day for a safe home, for a yard my son can play in, for our health, and for a grocery store where I can still buy food (if not toilet paper). But I am also reminded of the many people worldwide for whom self-isolation is even more daunting than it is in many parts of the United States, because of unsafe construction. If you don’t … Read More
Designing the Future: An Interview with the Nepal Architecture Interns
Architectural Interns with their supervisors at the Build Change Kathmandu Office. Left to Right, Front to Back. Aastha Sigdel, Ayusha Joshi (Design Support Team Leader- New Construction), Sandesh Devkota, Salina Pradhan (Technical Liaison Coordinator), Astha Panta, Suresh Twanbasa, Dikshya Pokhrel. Over the past year, Build Change, in partnership with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) provided placements to five architectural interns from Tribhuvan University. The five students gained invaluable experience while assisting Build Change and UNOPS with their work in Nepal. The Architectural department at Tribhuvan University requires students who are in their third year to undergo an intern placement for a minimum of 90 days, with the potential to extend depending on the needs of both Build Change and UNOPS, and the availability of the students. A marking schedule was provided by the university and the marks … Read More
Build Change and Simpson Strong-Tie Announce New Excellence in Engineering Fellow
A Study into the Participation of Females in On-the-Job Training Delivered by Build Change and UNOPS
A Photo Diary of My 5 Months with Build Change in Nepal
Build Change CEO Delivers Vision of Housing Resilience at TED Conference
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 25 — Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, Founder and CEO of Build Change, delivered an impassioned TED Talk to the organization’s “We the Future” conference in New York, joining thousands of other social entrepreneurs and activists in calling for a renewed commitment to building housing resilience and battling poverty in the developing world. The marquis event at the TED World Theater in Manhattan celebrated the 73rd annual opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. “It’s time we treat unsafe housing as the global epidemic that it is,” Hausler said. “It’s time to strengthen every building just like we would vaccinate every child in a public health emergency.” Around the world, natural disasters destroy thousands of lives and erase decades of economic gains each year. These outcomes are undeniably devastating and completely preventable, Dr. Hausler said, and substandard housing … Read More