We envisage a world where everyone - no matter the place they were born, the education they had, or the wealth of their parents - can live in a house that nurtures their growth, promotes their health, and perpetuates value for their family, their neighbours, and the planet. Why we do it
The Declaration to End The Stone Age sets out the following six pillars to create, together, with the cities and regions of the world.
We make all the knowledge, designs, data, code, and technology required to build healthy, sustainable homes and neighbourhoods available as part of a digital commons. Free for everyone, everywhere, forever.
By leveraging digital technologies that are open and free, construction costs come down by twenty to twenty-five percent. The Digital Housing Commons produces AI-generated, interoperable, machine-readable, open-source construction data and designs tailored to specific contexts, for local manufacturing worldwide. All designs are open-source - customisable, adaptable, forkable - released under Creative Commons. Anyone can use them to build homes, apartment blocks, or entire neighbourhoods.
We have no commercial interest or control over who builds what or where. Individuals and organisations are free to make choices that best suit their needs. The Digital Housing Commons Foundation, in collaboration with participating cities and regions, is the steward of the commons. Cities and regions are invited to join the Foundation, taking on fiduciary responsibilities for the commons, supported by partners.
Cities and regions are involved because their procurement power is critical to driving demand for sustainable solutions. As we have learned from extensive experience, a solution without demand fails, and demand without a solution persists. Procurement is the key that unlocks a sustainable future.
The initiative is funded primarily by the positive impact it makes, through trading carbon rights associated with the wood used in construction. We assure architectural stability, compliance, and integrity for constructions using nature-based materials. After construction, we certify the carbon content based on calculations from the configurator, available transport logistics data, and pixel-based monitoring via satellite to deduce the design used. We tokenise that certified carbon, funding the programme and sharing revenues with design contributors, data providers, and channel partners.
The Declaration is the public statement. Two further documents specify how the work is conducted and why it is structured the way it is.
Specialised working groups that develop standards, governance, and innovation in their respective domains. A Steering Group on Governance and Procurement sits across them.
Cities and regions join the Digital Housing Commons by signing the Declaration. Sign-up is light. We follow up to align on what participation looks like in your context.
For questions, partnerships, or specific workstreams - reach the person who covers it directly.