More than one billion people in the world live in substandard, unhealthy conditions. The Arial Homes Initiative, started by Tom Pirelli ’69, aims to provide a long-term housing solution for the developing world by building modular homes with the lowest cost per person per year. The homes are made of metal-insulated steel panels that fit together like Lego pieces. Each home provides the family with a kitchen/living room, a bedroom, a bathroom with shower and toilet, and a large multi-purpose sink. With its own independent solar electricity and water systems, the Arial Home provides a safe, affordable investment for the family.
Currently, there are 32 Arial Homes in Ensenada, Mexico. Each home takes only three hours to construct with a team of 8 volunteers and one experienced builder. After outfitting the home with furniture, setting up the electrical and plumbing systems, and landscaping, the entire construction process takes approximately three days. It takes $10,000 to fully fund the construction of one Arial Home. Any individual or group is able to sponsor and build an Arial Home through the initiative. The building plans, bill of materials, and other construction documents are completely open source and available at http://wiki.arialhome.org for all interested persons.
In the summer of 2008, an Arial Home was built on the Princeton University campus. It serves two functions:
- It provides a way to raise awareness of the Arial Home Initiative in the University community;
- It serves as a testing site for new improvements and innovations for the Arial Home, designed and constructed by members of the Princeton University Engineers Without Borders chapter.
As part of the College Humanitarian Engineering Challenge issued by Tom Pirelli ’69 to university students nation-wide, the EWB Arial Homes Initiative team at EWB–Princeton is currently researching and designing a rainwater catchment and filtration system to provide Arial Homes residents with safe drinking water collected from natural resources. We hope that this improvement module can be installed on future Arial Homes built in areas with heavy rainfall, improving the quality of life of its residents and upholding the idea of sustainability.
Princeton University Arial Home build during Reunions 2008
