Reusefully has been commissioned by Habitat for Humanity to investigate the circular economy drivers for affordable housing in the Global South.

The project will aim to deepen policy and enable environment recommendations for circular housing with a piece of research that builds on Habitat for Humanity’s Net-Zero Homes report published in November 2022.  



The Net-Zero Homes report provided valuable insight into the range of circularity approaches and associated exemplars that could be effective in the context of housing in middle income and emerging economies. The report covered four strategies:

• narrowing flows (using less)
• slowing flows (using longer)
• regenerating flows (making cleaner) and
• cycling flows (using again).

These are quite different approaches and not all will be possible simultaneously, or equally impactful, in all contexts given the circumstances of housing type, supply chain stage, local socio-economic conditions, national/regional legislative framework, skills and financing and other factors.

The follow-on project now being undertaken by Reusefully will build on this work to better understand and articulate the conditions for success in relation to strategy implementation, policy, and other interventions to support circularity in the built environment, and specifically for affordable housing.

If your organisation provides sustainable and circular housing solutions to emerging markets in the Global South, we are keen to connect with you. Please reach out to us about the project by using the Contact form above.