VIDEO: Chinwe Ohajuruka, founder of CDS (Comprehensive Design Services) in Nigeria
Award-winning entrepreneur, Chinwe Ohajuruka, founder of CDS (Comprehensive Design Services) in Nigeria and the inspiration behind innovative eco house building initiatives that are positively changing thousands of lives in the country, has just been recognised for her work in a new global and powerful documentary series. Her Passive House Prototypes project was featured in Al Gore’s latest environmental documentary series: 24 Hours of Reality.
In October, a film crew arrived in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to interview Chinwe and the CDS design team, as well as the residents of the revolutionary “Eco-Village” which has been designed and built by Chinwe and her company. The residents spoke candidly about what their lives were like before and after they moved into the Passive House Prototypes that they have now dubbed “Eco-Village”. Nigeria and Chinwe’s project is featured in the 17th hour of this 24-hour long documentary, which can be streamed on the 24HoursofReality website: http://www.24hoursofreality.org/ It can also be streamed on their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/climatereality
Chinwe Ohajuruka founder of Comprehensive Design Services announced as winner for sub-Saharan Africa at the 2015 Cartier Women's Initiative Awards Ceremony
About Chinwe Ohajuruka
Chinwe is a real inspiration in the field of green building solutions in Africa. She engineers and builds affordable green houses that are both energy and resource-efficient. Her 3 degreesin architecture and 3 accreditations in green building, led to the creation of Comprehensive Design Services, a company that provides comprehensive solutions to complex problems. Back in 2011, she took leave from her job in the USA to voluntarily assist with the establishment of the Green Council in Nigeria. This position required significant research on social, environmental and financial aspects of the Nigerian economy. It was then that she became aware of the housing deficit in the country, as well as the extent of the power, water and sanitation crisis. With a growing population of around 175 million inhabitants, Nigeria faces a massive housing, energy and water crisis. Most of the population lives in poor conditions and does not have access to electricity or sanitation. There is a housing deficit of 17 million units and only 40% of the population has access to power. Houses usually lack basic equipment such as toilets or running water. Chinwe’s company, Comprehensive Design Services, aims to find sustainable solutions to this problem by creating affordable, green housing in the country. Her house designs are solar powered, self cooling, and source water right from beneath the feet of the house occupants. Not only that, she produces designs that people can take and build themselves because 96% of the houses built in Nigeria are self built. Find out more about the incredible work of Chinwe Ohajuruka and her company, Comprehensive Design Services, by visiting the website - www.cdshousing.com
You can view Chinwe's Cartier Women's Initiative Awards Laureate page here.
