The Oak Hill Fund

Mission:
To promote the well-being of mankind through effective and inspiring grantmaking.

Environmentally Sustainable Affordable Design (ESAD) Program

The Oak Hill Fund's Environmentally Sustainable Affordable Design (ESAD) program promotes the incorporation of the principle of sustainable development into the design of affordable construction, with a primary focus on residential housing.

Definition of Sustainable Development

"...To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs."

The World Commission on Environment and Development
(The Brundtland Commission),
Our Common Future
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 43

Until very recently, there has been little awareness of the global impact of construction on our environment. Efforts to utilize and market cheap fossil fuels, modern materials, and efficient building techniques led to the unchecked exploitation of our natural resources, testing the limits of the earth's ability to sustain us.

With the doubling of the global human population in the last fifty years and the subsequent depletion of many natural resources, the need to incorporate ESAD principles into the construction process is imperative, for both ecological and economic reasons. Through education, increased public access to sustainable resources, and the incorporation of sustainable design into residential construction, OHF hopes to transform how we view building design and the environment.

Please click here to read about the ESAD Initiatives.