Passive solutions in self-build and incremental housing: towards inclusive socioecologicaltransformation in rapidly urbanising areas

Housing development is central to achieving climate neutrality and social inclusion around the world. Well-designed buildings and neighborhoods have the potential to optimize energy use, save water, and ensure recycling of construction materials and effective waste management. With this project, the team plans to fill an important gap in this research area by investigating how such measures can be integrated into longer, incremental construction in an affordable way and taking into account local socio-cultural contexts and material conditions. While these solutions are increasingly being used in new, high-quality buildings, the majority of homes in rapidly growing areas in the coming decades will be built through self-construction or incremental construction. In this context, high upfront investment and complex technical solutions often hinder the rapid implementation of passive design measures. In collaboration with Habitat for Humanity in Peru and Kota Kita in Indonesia, the project will conduct a diagnosis of the status quo, design solutions and processes for housing construction together with local communities, and test these through small-scale interventions in the target countries. On this basis, an open-access design manual and capacity-building activities will be provided to demonstrate and disseminate the approach through a network of practitioners and development organizations, including UN-Habitat.