A brief on the Eco Hab Lab project.

1. eco hab lab
preparing communities to build green homes, one by one
eco hab lab Andrés A. Carter
Amount Requested: $150,000.00 USD andres@ecohablab.com
Period: February 2013 - June 2014 718-288-0670

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The Snail symbolizes a system in Nature in which a
delicate organism is given the technology to convert TABLE OF CONTENTS
ecological resources into materials for building its home.
Executive Summary 3
This system is experimental, like a laboratory. Proof-of-Concept Pilot Project
4
The Author’s Story: Influences, Inspiration, & Inception
6
Introduction 11
The Problem and Need
11
The Innovation: Mission, Vision, Philosophy
16
Goals and Objectives
22
Operations
25
Business Model
26
Current Status
26
Stakeholder Audiences
27
Organizational Structure
29
Team Overview
29
Phase 1: Preliminary Requirements 30
Feasibility Study
30
Site Selection
31
Marketing Campaign I
33
Budget
34
Timeline
34
Phase 2: Pilot Execution 34
Crowd-Sourcing
34
Marketing Campaign II
34
Client Engagement - Sale Demo
35
Proof of Concept
35
Phase 3: Pilot Assessment 35
Assessment of Pilot
35
Start-Up Proposal
35
Nature uses a “lab” to help the Snail design its
Additional Pilot Projects
35
home within the context of it’s surrounding habitat Fund-Raising Strategy
35
- making each snail shell unique.
Simpulopsis Rufovirens.
Native to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What? Eco Hab Lab develops affordable, customizable eco-housing
along with amenities and on-site services that improve the habitat
and living conditions of favela residents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Why? Rio’s housing unit deficit is 500,000, and we believe its citizens
have a right to good housing. Since residents will have needs beyond
housing, we will also provide on-site development services.
How? We will setup an on-site office with a fablab (fabrication lab)
that will provide eco-services for customizing and developing the
housing (e.g. maintenance, property management, community
training, architectural design, construction prototyping, etc).
When/How Much? 2013. $150,000: Pilot, 2014. $800,000: fablab + 10
Units, 2015. $1,500,000: 20 Units 2016. $1,000,000: Unit Maintenance
Where? Initially in Central and South Zone favelas in Rio de Janeiro,
then expand into areas surrounding Petrobras facilities in Itaboraí.
Who? Eco Hab Lab is a multi-disciplinary team of architects, civil
engineers, developers, builders, and various industry consultants.
Business Model. Half of the development’s housing units will be sold
in an IPO to prospective residents, with the individual stock bundling
the resident’s property shares with a portion of our fablab shares -
making the development co-operatively owned. This option suits us
best - it allows Eco Hab Lab to cover the initial costs of the housing
and the lab, maintain ownership of half of the units, and incentivizes
residents to purchase services from a lab in which they hold stock.
Top Left: Under-serviced, informal housing in favelas, Top Right: Ecologically
built social housing in Pavão favela, Bottom: Video of Lapin eco-bricks fab-lab

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PROOF-OF-CONCEPT PILOT PROJECT
What? A prototypical, mixed-use, co-op owned, eco-housing unit.
Why? To test the business and operations models at a small scale,
3 4 raise revenues through rent, create a model for accommodations for
the 2014 world cup and 2016 olympics, and gather user feedback.
How? The 2-story prototype will be built in two vertical halves - one
owned by Eco Hab Lab, the other owned by a favela resident, and
2 1 executed in this fashion: 1. Build the 1st floor of Eco Hab Lab’s “half”
to use as a fablab (containing furnishings, construction equipment,
and a brick machine), 2. Build the 1st floor of the resident’s “half” as
5 temp shelter, 3. Build the resident’s 2nd floor as a dwelling, 4. Build
Eco Hab Lab’s 2nd floor as a dwelling, 5. Retrofit the resident’s 1st
floor for flexible use (either storefront or dwelling). Size: 250 m2.
How Much/When? Amount raised: USD$25,000, Fund-Raising Need:
USD$125,000 (incl. maintenance), Schedule: Feb 2012 - May 2013.
Above: Strategy for building the prototype
Where? Vila Parque da Cidade, Gávea District, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Who? Owners: Andrés Carter and Bruno Gomes de Oliveira Project
Oversight/Contracting: Eco Hab Lab, Feasibility Study: Arup NYC,
Architectural Design: DeFournier, Engineering: Arup Rio, Civil
Engineering and Geo-Technical Lab, PUC-Rio, Marketing and Fund-
Raising: Casa Thomé de Souza, Funders: U.S. Department of State
and Petrobras S.A., FabLab: EcoMaquinas, Lapin, Collaborators:
Studio X-Rio, Secretary of Housing of Rio de Janeiro, Vila Parque da
Cidade, Consultants: DelFim Verde, Elemental Chile, SIT Lab.
Mid-Left: Mobile eco-brick machine, Mid-Right: Current Site, Vila Parque da
Cidade Favela, Bottom-Left: Various eco-bricks Bottom-Right (2): Inside “Parque”

5. eco hab lab 5
A+C: Floor plans, B: Prototype rendering, F+G+L: Rooftop , H: Garden,
D: North façade, E: South façade I+J+K: Interior spaces
A C
B
D E F
G
J K L
H I
1

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THE FOUNDER’S STORY sustainable construction materials - a multi-faceted approach for
housing in developing cities.
Eco Hab Lab will develop affordable green housing that can
be customized, will include outdoor amenities, and will be serviced By that age, I was working for a non-profit focused on public
by an on-site eco-services lab. The purpose of this model is to space development, where I met the president of DeLFim VeRDe, a
sustain housing in manner that can improve the quality of its habitat. property developer in São Paulo, Brazil. Over lunch, he described
To make this idea more comprehensive, I would like to share a few the 200 eco-housing units development he built in his town. His
stories that were key moments of inspiration. strategy was to buy a large plot of land, and on it, setup a small
ecological-brick production facility using the same construction
When I was 22 years old, I started my Fulbright Fellowship, technologies I described earlier. At that time in Brazil, the creation of
researching ecological construction for housing, and was living in a on-site “fabrication labs” became a popular strategy to reduce
favela (a slum) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One day my neighbor started construction costs for developers. Using the eco-materials produced
building a home for his family, so I offered to design the architecture. in the “fablab,” he built the eco-housing on the surrounding land.
Although he accepted, he stressed his pressing needs - low-interest
financing and access to cheaper building materials so he could finish During the conversation, I asked him if he used community
his home faster. While I was unable to help him, I later learned about feedback before executing the development, to which he responded
new loan programs for low-income families purchasing or building “no, that’s too expensive.” Paradoxically, he approached my
new homes, as well as on-site mobile machines for making low-cost employers about ways to customize and distinguish his monotonous
ecological bricks. The discovery led me to believe that my neighbor’s eco-housing development after his company absorbed the
struggle could be lessened if low-interest loans and low-cost investment costs. I wondered ‘would it have been less risky and less
construction technology were packaged through one channel. By expensive to find out what housing and neighborhood the
age 26, I expanded the idea of a “single source” to the integration community wanted first before expending vast resources’ - a thought
of various services - co-designing homes with residents, matching that extended the idea beyond developing housing to servicing the
them to financing options, and providing access to affordable and environment and community that provides its context; its habitat.

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Thereafter, I researched housing developments that were However, my fondest memory during my search for housing
designed to improve its respective habitat, and found Elemental innovations was when I met Juliana Gomes, a young favela resident
Chile - the creators of a tract-housing model where only 1/2 of the who dreamed of becoming an interior designer and architect. She
most essential elements of a housing unit were built in order to was living proof that some residents have real desires to design and
reduce costs and allow the vacant half to be incrementally and build their homes, and not just have a home handed to them.
custom built. And while investigating the process of customizing However, it was her 5 and 6 year-old daughters who really made me
low-income housing, I found SIT Lab - Smart Informal Territories Lab understand the value of engagement. When I first explained Eco
located in São Paulo - which focuses on sourcing design ideas from Hab Lab to Juliana, I was sketching a design of an eco-home on
favela residents for improving housing and public space. Then later, I some trace paper. When her daughters saw my techniques, they
discovered Architecture for Humanity and WikiHouse, organizations became very excited, demanding that I teach them how to draw
that have developed various open-source designs for housing - and homes - all night long. The drawing sessions taught me that if the
what I discovered regarding housing that improved habitats up-coming generations learned skills for improving their homes, they
extended well beyond these examples. would likely discover better solutions for housing in the future.
Elemental Chile: Housing development that was customized by residents. Surveying: On the field with Juliana asking residents about eco-housing

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All of these stories served an interrelated purpose - each Eco Hab Lab will need to
experience inspired an aspect of Eco Hab Lab. I started imagining prepare to compete in the
buying a parcel of land and setting-up an on-site fablab for rigorous housing industry, but
producing affordable eco-materials (like DeLFim VeRDe), crowd- first it has to collaborate with
sourcing solutions from residents (like SIT Lab), using those ideas to those who share similar visions.
co-design housing units (like WikiHouse/Architecture for Humanity), Fortunately, Eco Hab Lab became a
designing and building those units for customization and selling finalist in the Alumni Engagement
them at an affordable price (like Elemental Chile), and providing job and Innovation Fund competition
training in green building for communities residents (like Juliana) - I in 2012, and was awarded $25,000
began to imagine all these services being integrated to improve all by the US Dept of State.
aspects of habitat. These experiences shaped Eco Hab Lab’s core
values - environmental stewardship, affordability, participation, and So while we have
the sustainable development of habitat in informal urban support, we still need
communities. This experimental, multi-faceted urban development a lot of help and
model (along with the fact that it will operate a fablab) further collaboration. Please
justifies the name Eco Hab Lab - Ecological Habitat Laboratory. read the remainder
of this document to
However, the most unexpected influence that perfectly understand the work
described Eco Hab Lab was the snail shell. I was trying to describe that lays ahead of
the business and operations models, which start with a lab and then this vision.
have housing built around it - similar to how a spiral grows from an
origin. But then I made the connection to the snail, which makes an
Thank You,
ecological material, and then uses to build its spiral shell from the
Andrés A. Carter
center, outward - a home perfectly in the context of its habitat.