Theory of Change

Thriving Economies. Resilient Communities.
No Disasters.

These are the goals of the Build Change Theory of Change.

At Build Change, we place the major barriers to the widespread adoption of resilient housing into three categories: People, Money, and Technology.

People: Demand for resilient housing
Money: Financing for resilient housing
Technology: Supply of resilient housing

Their interdependence yields a holistic approach to design policies, provide access to financing products and incentives, and use technology to reach scale.

People

Homeowner-Driven >> Policy That Works >> Demanded by All

Three groups drive demand for disaster-resilient housing:

Homeowners (Residents): Homeowners are the largest investors in housing around the world. They have the power to demand better housing. In some countries, decent housing is a constitutional right.
Governments: While housing is often considered a private asset, it is a public liability when destroyed in a disaster. Governments have the power to raise public awareness, create incentives and penalties for home strengthening, and develop building codes and define and enforce construction standards.
Funders: Funders and lenders can invest in resilient housing at scale, use funding as incentive for resilience, and support affordable lending products.

Money

Invest in Systems Change >> Fund Program Operation >> Cash for Construction

Resilient housing investment covers the following three needs:

Materials and Labor: Subsidies and/or loans to cover materials and labor for home construction and/or retrofitting
Program and Technical Assistance: Allocations by governments, institutional donors, NGOs and philanthropists to cover program implementation, such as construction quality control, subsidy or loan distribution, vocational training, communication tools and technology platforms
Systems Change and Market Development: Proof-of-concept, policy advocacy, awareness campaigns, building code and regulation development, loss modeling, making resilient housing part of the global development agenda.

Interested in investing in one of the above?

Technology

Engineering, Design, Construction >> Capacity Building for Workforce Development >> Digital Tools For Scale

Engineering, Design and Construction: Delivering resilient housing at scale relies on professional engineering, design and construction expertise
Capacity Building and Workforce Development: Resilient housing programs create ample opportunities to build local capacity, create local jobs, and invest in the local economy
Digital Platforms for Scale: Digital technology is continuing to transform the scope of what is possible and add efficiencies to each stage of the construction value chain.

Learn more about Build Change’s Theory of Change

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