UVU MBA student help answer the call for sustainable refugee housing solution

UVU Press Releases

Media Contact: Patricia Monsoor pmonsoor@uvu.edu land: 801-863-5483 cell: 650-454-6441
In response to the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR) issuing a policy on alternatives to refugee camps, a local Utah-based company, two UVU Woodbury School of Business faculty and staff members, and a handful of Woodbury MBA students are changing and improving the face of refugee housing forever.
“Alternatives to camps should ultimately be more sustainable and cost effective, because they harness the potential of refugees, rationalize service delivery, and allow for more targeted assistance to those most in need. Achieving these objectives, however, should be offset by the reductions in direct assistance, as more refugees become self-reliant and are able to meet their own basic needs.”
-Policy from UNHCR on alternative refugee camps
With the UNHCR estimating 21.3 million refugees worldwide, and the demand for continuous monetary contributions in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars for resettlement and emergency relief, it is clear that the traditional methods to shelter and support this displaced population are far from sustainable.
Enter Laki Technologies, UVU Director of Technology Commercialization Kent Millington and UVU Woodbury School of Business Professor Jim Mortensen. Laki, owned by two Washington-state construction professionals, Dee and Steve Bates, immediately realized they could answer the UNHCR’s call with their sustainable Geofoam Shelters and Grow Houses. Their building technology allows quick integration into any environment, while providing refugee communities the opportunity for self-reliance and optimization of individual potential.

A group of Professor Mortensen’s MBA students who collaborated with Laki, created an executable business plan that investigated the practicality of using Laki’s unique building materials, combined with an Aquaponic technology to provide a long-term solution and commerce for refugees, abroad and right here in the United States.
The project scope entailed conducting a feasibility study evaluating the refugee housing solution by Laki. Their findings in the study ...

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