Building Earthquake-Resistant Houses in Haiti: The Homeowner-Driven Model

Abstract

Earthquakes are deadly. Every year, thousands of people in developing countries die when buildings collapse on them, and hundreds of thousands more are left homeless. It’s not the earthquake that kills people, it’s the collapse of buildings that were poorly designed and built. The potential for tragedy only increases as more people move to cities and more buildings are constructed using concrete, which can be dangerous without good design and building standards. The recent disaster in Haiti is a tragic reminder of these facts. But these are man-made problems, and they have man-made solutions. People in Haiti who have lost their homes are ideal candidates for homeowner-driven reconstruction, a low-cost, high-impact rebuilding model used successfully by governments in India, Indonesia, and China, and implemented on the ground by Build Change. So far, over 70,000 people in Indonesia and China live in safer homes because of Build Change’s work. In Indonesia, houses we helped construct were tested in an earthquake that struck on September 30, 2009. None of the houses that met our minimum standard for earthquake safety was damaged in the earthquake. In addition to designing earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries, we train builders, homeowners, engineers, and government officials to build them. Working directly with homeowners to choose a design and hire and oversee builders is a rewarding process that results in safer houses and satisfied homeown