-
This House Can Be 3D-Printed For $4,000
New Story, a company that builds housing in the developing world, has a new invention: a massive 3D printer that will soon be able to extrude an entire four-room house in less than a day.
- Categories
- Technology
-
Press release: Community Housing Capital Announces $15 Million Impact Credit Facility with Calvert Impact Capital
“We have had a long-term, successful relationship with Community Housing Capital and this investment continues our support of its mission to create and preserve affordable housing,” said Lucas Pappas, Director of Investments for Calvert Impact Capital. “We are excited to bring new qualified investors into the impact investing space and connect them more directly with strong mission-driven organizations like Community Housing Capital.”
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- housing, impact investing
-
Egyptian Millennial Entrepreneur Builds Sustainable Housing In The Desert
In 2016, the Egyptian housing ministry estimated that a staggering 500,000 new homes need to be built every year for five years to keep pace with the population growth. Despite these efforts, many Egyptians cannot afford these homes. As a result, they live outside urban city centers in informal settlements with poor access to adequate housing, education or healthcare services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
-
How Impact Investing is Advancing Affordable Housing
For millions of people, especially for the 13.2 million who have worked with the organization to build new or updated homes, Habitat for Humanity is a household name. But many don't realize that the international charity that put “sweat equity” on the map is also pioneering a different approach: A pair of funds that invest in businesses that advance affordable housing via financial products and services. Jyoti Patel, global director-capital markets at Habitat’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, discusses the funds and their wide-ranging impact.
- Categories
- Investing
-
Solar + Housing = Impact: Why Investors Should Boost Renewable Energy in Affordable Housing
When it comes to off-grid solar energy, we tend to think of market extremes such as rural poor people in developing countries without any electricity or well-off people in developed countries looking to charge up their Teslas. But Lori Chatman of Enterprise Community Loan Fund and Ismael Guerrero of the Denver Housing Authority detail a project to bring green power to public housing residents in the Mile High City. The project could serve as a model for impact investors looking to improve health, expand green jobs and earn a return.
-
New Products, New Markets – New Risks? Microfinance Shifts its Gaze to Housing
$2.3 trillion: That's what low-income households are predicted to spend on urban housing by 2025. So it's no surprise that many microfinance providers view housing lending as their next big opportunity for both profit and social impact. But this new focus brings plenty of challenges – and more than a few risks. We explore the implications of this development – a key topic of discussion at the recent European Microfinance Week.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
-
Reimagining Slums: Innovative Solutions to Bangladesh’s Urban Housing Dilemma
Bangladesh's housing deficit has quadrupled in the last decade and, in the absence of adequate measures, it is projected to increase to 8.5 million units by 2021. Due to extreme demand and lack of rent control in slums, housing prices are sky-high. BRAC's Asif Saleh and Mahira Khan say these challenges highlight an opportunity for testing out models for urban development that leverage government, private business and the development sector.
- Categories
- Investing, Uncategorized
-
The First MicroFinance Bank Afghanistan; Mibanco of Peru; and Cooperative Tosepantomin of Mexico Announced as Finalists for European Microfinance Award on Microfinance for Housing
This year, the Award highlights the role of microfinance in supporting access to better quality residential housing for vulnerable, low income and financially excluded groups with no or limited access to housing finance in the mainstream sector. This problem is multi-dimensional: sub-standard housing is not just an identifier of poverty, but rather it is the cause of a host of developmental problems.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia