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Schaan - Hilti has created safe, affordable houses for 6,000 low-income individuals in the Global South with its innovative cement and bamboo frame technology. Additionally, the environmental impact of these houses is less than half that of conventional buildings.

On the occasion of International Bamboo Day on September 18, Hilti raised awareness of bamboo as a sustainable, fast-growing, natural raw material. The disaster-proof cement and bamboo frame technology developed by the Liechtenstein-based construction equipment manufacturer has been above all used by its Hilti Foundation in the Philippines and Nepal for the construction of more than 1,200 houses to date. These last up to 60 years and the environmental burden is 60 percent lower than conventional concrete houses.

The Hilti Foundation established the BASE Bahay Foundation and the BASE Innovation Center in Manila to apply and promote this safe, affordable, and sustainable construction solution. According to a press release, large-scale construction will now be implemented together with partner organizations. This includes the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Coventry University in the UK, De La Salle University in the Philippines, and the London-based design agency ARUP.

Werner Wallner, CEO of the Hilti Foundation, commented: “Adequate housing is a human right, and yet an estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide – that’s one in four – live in substandard housing.” Apparently, experts estimate that this number will nearly double to 3 billion by 203o. Wallner adds: “Creating new affordable and sustainable housing for these people is a major task that impacts not only their safety and health, but also their economic and social opportunities.”