A fewinnovative examples of initiatives providing low-cost housing made their wayacross my desk in the last 24 hours, which I took as a sign that I should sharethem with the NB.net community. Somehave been shared before, but are worth mentioning again.

The firstis a South African company called Moladi, which utilizesa unique plastic injection molded technology to produce cast-in-place mortar structures. The process allows unskilled laborers to use indigenous materials to quickly and cheaply construct high standard permanent buildings that are earthquake, cyclone and tsunamiresistant. With the intended purpose of"housing the nations", the construction technology addresses four keychallenges embodied in the low cost housing shortages facing developingcountries, namely: lack of resources, insufficient funds, shortage of skills,and time constraints.

Anothercomes from a recently established non-profit organizationTunga Tunga Trust in Namibia 'Tunga Tunga' is an Oshi-wambo word for 'build and empower the nationthrough cheaper housing'. The group isconstructing inexpensive movable houses are made from metallic sandwich panelswhich are fire and weather resistant. The insides of the walls consist of white chrome which keeps the housewarm during winter and cool during summer.

Finally, FUUVAL aims to promote the social integration of the informal sector and peoplewith low incomes, through the construction of affordable housing, in Centraland in Latin America

Doesanyone else know of any other interesting housing technologies aimed at theBOP?