Assessment of U.S. manufactured system built wooden homes as an affordable housing alternative for low income households in developing countries

Millions of people around the developing world struggle to obtain safe, decent and affordable housing. The United States of America has substantially improved the residential construction sector by engineering new materials and developing efficient systems in wood construction.

The goal of this research was to assess the potential of introducing system built wood construction system manufactured in the United States in urban social housing markets of developing countries. Peru, Ecuador and Colombia were three countries chosen for this study. Stakeholders in social housing in these three countries were interviewed to assess key aspects of traditional construction, current social housing deficits, perception of wood use in construction, and policies associated with social housing in selected markets. Findings indicate developing custom housing products for urban social housing programs can provide access to this untapped markets. Awareness about wood construction was very limited in the studied region. System built wood construction manufacturers in the U.S. were assessed to identify barriers and incentives for internationalization. Manufacturers in the U.S. also identify the need to expand their existing customer base. Findings of the survey conducted among the manufacturers identified various barriers to export. This research contributes to opening of new markets for exports of prefabricated wooden buildings in new geographical regions.