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Rebuilding Safe, Satisfactory, and Sustainable Houses After Earthquakes

4,032 views · Published 5 November 2010 · 57:37 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: CITRIS and the Banatao Institute · 2010 · Science & Technology

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Lecture by Elizabeth Hausler, Build Change

Build Change is a non-profit social enterprise that designs earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries and trains builders, homeowners, engineers, and government officials to build them. With programs in Indonesia, China, and Haiti, Build Change's work has improved over 18,000 homes and permanently upgraded the skills of 2,000 builders and construction professionals. Build Change starts by performing post-earthquake reconnaissance studies to understand why houses collapsed and why they didn't. Build Change then uses detailed housing subsector studies to identify low or no-cost improvements to existing, culturally appropriate building technologies, such as confined masonry and timber frame. Build Change develops training resources and works in partnership with structural engineers and local governments to develop and implement building standards and inspection programs. Build Change also works in partnership with research and testing laboratories to validate and improve simple methods for assessing materials and construction quality in the field. To learn more, visit www.buildchange.org and come to the CITRIS seminar!

BIO:
Elizabeth Hausler is the founder and CEO of Build Change. She is a 2004 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2006 Draper Richards Fellow, a 2009
Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow and was a Fulbright Scholar to India in 2002-2003. She is a skilled brick, block and stone mason and has lectured on sustainable, disaster-resistant construction in ten countries. She served on the 2002-2003 National Research Council committee to develop a long-term research agenda for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES). Before graduate school, she spent five years in the engineering consulting industry, working for Peterson Consulting LP in Chicago, IL and Dames & Moore in Denver, CO.

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