Our impact.
Impact dashboard.
Easy Housing measures its impact using five key indicators: 1) CO2 avoided; 2) happy inhabitants; 3) forest area protected; 4) jobs created; and 5) value created.
For each home we build, we make the following impact:
26
tonnes CO2
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An average Easy Home reduces 26 tonnes of CO2 through carbon storage and by avoiding cement. That is equivalent to 130,000 kilometres of travelling by plane! Learn more about carbon sequestration here.
5
people
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An average Easy Home is large enough for a family of five. This means when building 100 homes, five hundred people can live in a dignified and climate proof home!
7000
square metres
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By sourcing FSC certified timber, Easy Housing stimulates sustainable forestry practices. This way, we help to protect around 0.7 hectares* of forest area per home we built. That is more than one football field per home!
*This number is for plantation forests in Uganda and Tanzania, while in natural forests in Mozambique and Ghana, this can be over 200 hectares per Easy Home.
20
jobs
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In all our projects we work with local labour. An average home creates twenty local jobs, for carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians and so on. For 100 homes, this means 2,000 local jobs!
$85K
spin-off value
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The socio-economic and environmental impact of our homes equals a value of around USD 85,000 when including the value of impact on externalities like carbon footprint, biodiversity and local livelihoods. This means an added value of $ 8.5 million for a 100 homes!
Sustainable Development Goals
Easy Housing has a positive impact on 16 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)! We focus especially on these SDGs:
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We work with local partners to create local jobs, for example in our carpentry teams. We source all materials locally to further stimulate the economy.
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The timber industry will play an important role in solving the housing crisis in the coming decades. Easy Housing and other timber solutions will push the timber industry towards innovation and scaling up their sustainable production forests.
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Our circular building technology enhances sustainable cities and homes by using timber and upcycled plastic to construct environmentally friendly homes. The flexible building system allows for many different typologies and designs, creating safe and comfortable homes suitable for everyone.
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Easy Homes are carbon negative and resilient to natural hazards. This reduces the amount of emissions in the atmosphere and slows down the effects of global warming.
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By using and promoting sustainable timber, the demand for sustainably sourced timber will increase , thus reducing deforestation and biodiversity loss. The circular nature of Easy Homes creates long-term value, as the materials can be reused and repurposed.
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SDG 1 No Poverty
Access to affordable housing is a key driver in ending poverty. The circular and affordable nature of Easy Homes allow for new financing models, thus alleviating poverty.
SDG 2 Zero Hunger
Affordable housing creates more savings, reduced inequality and new economic opportunities for households. Combined, these factors will contribute (directly and indirectly) to the eradication of hunger.
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
Living in a safe and comfortable home has a large positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Timber homes are proven to have a positive effect on people’s wellbeing and offer a higher living comfort.
SDG 4 Quality Education
Affordable housing enables parents to pay for the education of their children. Second, having a decent dwelling provides the right conditions for children to do homework and study at home.
SDG 5 Gender Equality
When a family has access to sustainable affordable housing, the girls in the household are more likely to get decent education and equal opportunities to develop themselves.
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
Waterborne diseases still cause a lot of unnecessary suffering and can be easily overcome with proper sanitation and sewerage. In our building system, it is easy to connect and maintain infrastructure like plumbing and sewerage. Moreover, the roof’s rainwater run-off can be collected and stored in rainwater tanks to be used for household use.
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
Easy Homes have roofs that are structurally sound and strong enough to carry full surface PV (solar) panel installations. Furthermore, Easy Homes make use of passive house design principles to ensure that little energy is needed for heating and/ cooling of the home.
SDG 10 Reduced Inequality
In order to elevate people from poverty, better access to housing is of paramount importance. It will increase their economic opportunities, protect them against the negative impacts of climate change, and improve their overall health and well-being.
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
Easy Homes are 100% circular and can be reused, repurposed, relocated, rebuilt, incrementally expanded, stored flat-pack and repaired by replacing individual components. Easy Housing aims to be a good example of the benefits of using circular building methods in the construction industry.
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Access to decent housing reinforces the stability of the social fabric and fosters strength of institutions and their ability to maintain peace and justice. This is all possible with the support of strong institutions that promote sustainable affordable housing and inclusive urban planning.
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
The building industry is a complex web of stakeholders that all have to work together to transition towards sustainable and circular methods. For an innovative sustainable building system to get embraced, it needs to be embedded in the existing construction ecosystem so that cultural acceptance can be ensured.
Our impact partners
We have partnered with a variety of international organisations to make more impact together!
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We work together with GCA to promote and support climate adaptation.
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As an UpLink Top Innovator, UpLink supports and emplifies our efforts regarding sustainable forest economy.
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With CSFEP, we work on the carbon monetisation of our projects and safeguards of our timber supply chains.
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We are developing a construction stored carbon (CSC) monetisation framework that will benefit families living in biobased homes.
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We are working on a carbon monetisation framework to support biobased construction and promote sustainable forestry.
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YEP helps young professionals to build their networks and expertise, focusing on water, agrofood and renewable energy in emerging economies.
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With EwB Netherlands, we are developing a multi-storey Easy Home design.
The problem.
Housing gap.
Two billion homes need to be built this century to close the global housing gap. This means more than 70,000 homes a day!
Inadequate housing.
More than 1.8 billion people globally live in inadequate housing, such as self-made shelters in slums.
Construction footprint.
The built environment is responsible for more than 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, with construction of new buildings accounting for 11%.
Unemployment.
The global unemployment rate is 15%. Youth unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa is even more than 30%. Green jobs are urgently needed to provide livelihoods.
How we solve these issues →
