Nubian Vault Association

AVN disseminates a low-carbon, energy-efficient building alternative in West Africa, the Nubian Vault (NV). Its innovative market-based programme is designed to address housing issues while creating additional income opportunities for rural smallholder households and enhance local economic development. Market is the optimal driver for large-scale dissemination and the appropriation of this innovation by all local stakeholders: civil society, private sector actors, public authorities and financial institutions.

Using only raw earth, a locally available material, the NV technique allows the construction of sturdy, weather-resistant, low-carbon and energy-efficient buildings, embedded in local economies and traditions, for wide-scale access to decent and long-lasting homes, wellbeing and social empowerment of present and future generations.