A $300 House?

Half a million women (and 800,000 children) die each year from exposure to smoke from primitive cooking fuels (according to the WHO’s Fuel For Life report).  Could these lives be saved – not to mention countless others – by a cheap, clean-energy-powered house? 

Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth wants to find out.  Govindarajan has issued a challenge to the business community, governments, NGOs, and foundations to develop a “a mass-produced, standard, affordable, and sustainable solution” – a livable house for the poor that costs just $300.

A well-designed $300 house would be a huge breakthrough for the world’s poor – the majority of whom are women.  Here’s hoping the world’s innovators and entrepreneurs embrace the challenge!

Read more about the $300 house: http://blogs.hbr.org/govindarajan/2010/08/the-300-house-a-hands-on-lab-f.html?cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-weekly_hotlist-_-hotlist083010&referral=00202&utm_source=newsletter_weekly_hotlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hotlist083010