Pam Dorr Builds Sustainable Homes for $20k

Pam Dorr of Hale Empowerment & Revitalization Organization, or HERO, and John Bielenberg of Project M spoke together this weekend at Compostmodern, presenting a bit about what their projects are about. We recently talked about the amazing, fast-paced projects of Project M. So here, we focus on some incredible work being done by Pam Dorr and her group - specifically, how they figured out how to build a sustainably crafted house for $20,000 - something anyone in architecture will say is impossible - and how they're helping people own homes on $600 a month. Dorr used to design underwear for companies like Esprit and Victoria's Secret. But after traveling the world and having "it all," she realized she had to design things that actually make a difference. She headed to rural Alabama and started up HERO, her organization that advocates sustainable housing development in Hale County.

As amazing as what she and her group accomplishes in design are the people to whom the homes go to.

Here, Dorr speaks about figuring out how to make a home for $20,000 - and why $20,000 is the target number.

Dorr goes on to talk more about helping people own a home on $600 a month - a standard income on theMore on Compostmodern:Michel Gelobter on Designing Our Way Out of Global Warming (Video)Compostmodern Setting the Sustainable Tone for Design IndustryJohn Bielenberg Gives Designers 48 Hours to Change the World (Video)Eames Demetrios Discusses Looking Beyond Sustainability (Video)Joel Makower Says We Have Just 5,000 More Days (Video)