Open Innovation Challenge Offers New Business Cases and Sustainable Housing Solutions for Developing Countries
SWORDS, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR), a world leader in creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments, is underwriting the $300 House Design Challenge, a global competition that seeks designs for affordable and sustainable housing for the world’s poor. Participants must design a simple dwelling that costs $300 to construct. The house should address fundamental human needs, provide protection from the elements, and reinforce a sense of dignity for residents.
“We believe this unique competition will help us better understand those needs, drive collaboration with top thought leaders and better understand how crowdsourcing can accelerate innovation.”
The entry deadline is May 31, 2011, and winners will be announced soon after. Ingersoll Rand will provide scholarships for the top entries to a two-week workshop to build prototypes of the $300 house. The workshop will take place the last two weeks of June 2011 under the supervision of Common, a new collaborative community/brand for social entrepreneurs.
The $300 House Challenge is a conduit for global participants – including designers, architects, students and professionals, – to collaborate, design and validate a business model for the profitable construction of the houses in developing markets.
Although residents can be located in any part of the world, initial target areas for the dwellings are in areas of extreme poverty, such as India, Haiti and Indonesia. In addition to Ingersoll Rand, there are dozens of challenge partners including Harvard Business Review, Dartmouth College, National Economic Committee of Indonesia, Cornell University, Singapore Management University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
The project uses crowdsourcing to generate ideas. Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or a contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a "crowd"), through an open call. Because it is an open call to an undefined group of people, it gathers those who are most fit to perform tasks, solve complex problems and contribute with the most relevant and fresh ideas.
“The demand for affordable solutions that provide comfort, safety, and efficiency is rising strongly in developing regions,” said W. Scott Tew, executive director, Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand. “We believe this unique competition will help us better understand those needs, drive collaboration with top thought leaders and better understand how crowdsourcing can accelerate innovation.”
Ingersoll rand Underwrites $300 House Challenge - 2
The $300 House project began as a challenge to businesses in a Harvard Business Review blog post by Dartmouth College professor Vijay (V.G) Govindarajan, Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business and the Founding Director of Tuck’s Center for Global Leadership, and Christian Sarkar, an independent internet disruptive innovation consultant.
“We want designers and architects to see this as a business opportunity, not as a charity case study,” says Govindarajan. “This design challenge will help us get some innovative people to focus on a vast under-served global market.”
Jovoto, a platform that encourages participants to collaborate and submit ideas throughout the design process, is hosting the internet challenge.
More information on the contest, background research and the initiators’ experiences in poverty-stricken countries is available at The 300 House website and The 300 House blog.
About Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) is a world leader in creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments in commercial, residential and industrial markets. Our people and our family of brands - including Club Car®, Hussmann®, Ingersoll Rand®, Schlage®, Thermo King® and Trane® - work together to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings, transport and protect food and perishables, secure homes and commercial properties, and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. The Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand is a global group of experts dedicated to integrating best practices for the long-term use of energy and other resources. Ingersoll Rand is a $14 billion global business committed to sustainable business practices within our company and for our customers. For more information, visit www.ingersollrand.com.
