‘Casa Buna’ builds under way in Romania

In May 2009, Habitat for Humanity started the actual construction of the first ‘Casa Buna’ – an innovative steel-framed house – on the build site in Comanesti, Romania. The prototype, meaning in Romanian a good house, was designed and tested by the engineers of ArcelorMittal.

The giant steelmaker rose to the challenge of fighting poverty housing and partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help get families into simple, decent and affordable shelter. ArcelorMittal came up with a model that could be easily assembled by unskilled volunteers and at the same time have a durable life span. A steel-framed house is both environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

At the end of May, Habitat Romania received the first trench of 110,000 Euros for the construction from ArcelorMittal. By June, the steel frames had been delivered to the build site in Comanesti. So far, the foundation for the first house has been completed; work on the basement of the other two houses is in progress.

Three innovative houses will be constructed throughout the year. Each module consists of four apartments. Habitat Romania has already selected eight out of the twelve partner families who will be the future homeowners of the ‘Casa Buna’. The four-member Ilie family is one of them. Daniel and Monik live with two children, 3 and 2 years old, in a flat together with Daniel’s mother. The old woman has heart problems and requires a separate room, thus the rest of the family shares just one room.

The Ilies could never afford to improve their living conditions but they have been hoping for a change. “I have always dreamt of a good home for my children, but I never thought that I would be able to offer them exactly ‘Casa Buna’!” says Daniel.

In July and August, Habitat Romania will be hosting volunteers on the construction site, among them an ArcelorMittal team that will also contribute labour for the ‘Casa Buna’ construction.