Build Change is an international non-profit social enterprise

for Tsunami Survivors!! In the area devastated by the tsunami in Indonesia, we built 33 houses by hiring and training local builders, and improved the design and construction of over 4,200 houses built by partner organizations. For more information about our Aceh programs and partners, click here or visit our Newsletter Archive.

Build Change designs and trains homeowners and builders to build houses that are :

SAFE - the houses do not cause deaths and injuries during earthquakes
SATISFACTORY - culturally appropriate and comfortable
SUSTAINABLE - built with materials and earthquake-resistant technology that will continue to be used after our program ceases.

For Technical Drawings and Construction Guidelines, click here.

June 30, 2008: Reconnaissance to Sichuan
Build Change's Founder, Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, visited the earthquake-affected area to understand why buildings failed and make plans to support earthquake-resistant housing reconstruction. Using unconfined precast concrete plank floors on top of unreinforced masonry walls caused most of the devastation, but some confined masonry buildings performed flawlessly. See the Technical Resources page under post-earthquake recon reports for more information, and support the homeowners to rebuild earthquake-resistant houses so they never have to face such tragedy again. DONATE NOW

131,029 People Killed or Missing in Indonesia from the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami... Build Change's house design for Aceh wins an Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California... Build Change Provides Design and Construction Inputs on over 4,200 Houses Built by Other Organizations in the Aceh Tsunami Reconstruction... Build Change Trains over 130 Builders in Aceh, Permanently Improving Their Construction Skills... 5,782 Indonesians Killed in the May 27, 2006 Earthquake near Yogyakarta... Earthquakes Don't Kill People, Buildings Do... 52 People Killed and 15,000 Houses Destroyed in the March 6, 2007 Earthquakes in West Sumatra... Build Change opens an office in West Sumatra and works with homeowners who lost houses in the March 6, September 12, and September 13 earthquakes... Keys to Good Performance of Confined Masonry Buildings in Earthquakes: Configuration, Connections and Construction Quality (the three C's)... 25 People Killed and 16,774 Homes Destroyed in the September 12 and 13 2007 Earthquakes in West Sumatra, Bengkulu and the Mentawai Islands... "Nature did not build the houses which collapsed" Rousseau, 1756... Build Change Publishes a Design and Construction Guideline for Confined Masonry Houses in Indonesia...

Support homeowners rebuilding houses in Ica, Peru and Sichuan, China.

How you can help...