- AMD Personal Internet Communicator
- Bamboo Treadle Pump
- Big Boda load-carrying bicycle
- Ceramic Water Filter
- Domed Pit Latrine Slab kit
- Drip Irrigation System
- Internet Village Motoman Network
- Jaipur foot and below-knee prosthesis
- Kenya Ceramic Jiko
- Kinkajou Microfilm Projector and Portable Library
- LifeStraw
- One Laptop per Child
- MoneyMaker Block Press
- MoneyMaker Hip Pump
- Pot-in-Pot cooler
- PermaNet
- Q Drum
- Solar Home Lighting System
- Solar Aid
- StarSight
- Sugarcane charcoal
- Super MoneyMaker Pump
- Water Storage System
- WorldBike prototype
SHELTER
Shelter is a basic human need. It protects us from the physical elements and provides security and a sense of belonging. Numerous individuals and groups, from manufacturers partnering with architects to grassroots activists for the homeless, are exploring innovative materials and building methods to provide temporary, transitional, or permanent structures for the disadvantaged.
New lightweight materials for temporary shelters are improving distribution and implementation of relief to people and regions devastated by natural or manmade disasters. Striking in their simplicity of use, emergency shelters serve a most urgent need for survival for those left without any protection.
Designers from around the globe are also exploring the use of local construction techniques and materials to build affordable permanent structures. In Africa, a low-cost device compacts soil into blocks for cost-effective buildings. In the United States, multidisciplinary teams, often composed of volunteers, are creating transitional or permanent housing for the homeless, and even for entire neighborhoods such as the areas of New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. These projects are impacting and improving lives, preserving local cultures, and providing hope for the future.
