According to real estate brokerage Redfin, U.S. home prices were up more than 13% year-over-year in September with a median sale price of around $375,000. It’s data like this that makes it safe to say that homeownership, once a foundational element of the classic American Dream, has become increasingly out of reach for the average person.
And with high real estate prices comes high rental rates, resulting in economic challenges for everyone along the spectrum — not least of which are those who can’t afford either.
Marieh Mehran, an Iranian-born architect who first came to the United States to study at UCLA, was first struck by the homelessness she saw in the Los Angeles area despite the wealth and resources that exist here in the U.S. The idea that homelessness was such a global problem drove Mehran to use her skills to work toward developing a solution that could create better access to cheaper, more sustainable building materials.
The company founded by Mehran, called MAA’VA, has created a proprietary sustainable carbon negative construction material using plastic and non-plastic waste, making it very eco-friendly and cost-effective.
In fact, traditional construction time, costs, and wastes are said to be cut by over 60% with MAA’VA, and the material can be applied in 3D printed or traditional applications. Mehren says she hopes to have the material commercially available within a year, at which point MAA’VA wants to partner with both 3D printing and construction companies “or even build their own 3D printers to help build green, affordable homes for a larger segment of the population,” according to one report. The company says a 550 square foot house made with MAA’VA materials could be printed as quickly as 24 hours — a 90% gain in construction efficiency.
Ultimately, lower costs and quicker turnaround could mean democratizing the access to housing that’s been shrinking for so many. MAA’VA says its underlying objective is to revive “the hidden empathy in architecture and science to serve humanity and our Mother Earth.”
