Affordable & Energy Efficient Cohousing
Designing Accessible Cohousing for Environmental Resilience
This six-part seminar offers an in-depth exploration of how to create thriving cohousing communities with a strong emphasis on both affordability and sustainability. Led by Charles Durrett, the foremost architect and builder of cohousing communities worldwide, this course will provide you with a unique opportunity to learn from his extensive experience in designing and building communities that prioritize social connection, ecological responsibility, and financial accessibility.
AIA and AICP Continuing Education Self-Reported Learning Units
eight-session | 90-MINUTE ONLINE WORKSHOPS
NEXT SESSION: march 25 - may 13, 2026
We have paired with our friends at the Cohousing Association of the US to bring you an 8 session course, taught by Charles Durrett, AIA.
Develop an understanding of how to balance affordability with sustainability in the design of a cohousing community. Apply sustainable building practices that reduce long-term environmental impact while maintaining affordability. Navigate the complexities of land use, zoning, and negotiation to secure properties that align with sustainability goals. As well as develop strategies for ongoing maintenance and community management that ensure long-term success without compromising financial accessibility.
Charles Durrett’s extensive experience in designing for individuals who are eager to live lightly on the planet and build strong, affordable communities will inspire you to think beyond conventional approaches to residential development.
Can’t attend every session live?
No problem. Full recordings are available, so you can participate on your schedule without missing a thing.
Value and Key Outcomes: In this 6-course seminar, the student will learn from Charles Durrett, the leading architect and builder of cohousing communities globally. Durrett will impart his decades of experience so that you can learn about how to build your dream residential community with affordability and sustainability top of mind. The student will learn how affordability and sustainability fit together, hand in glove. It’s not one or the other. We’ll dive in to where the highest level of sustainability is achieved in high-functioning cohousing communities, culture change itself. Durrett will cover both the essence and the basics – based on designing for thousands of cohousers who didn’t want to compromise either.
This course is for: Those interested in the practical aspects of developing cohousing communities or upgrading existing cohousing to be affordable, sustainable, and socially enriching, while also fostering long-term viability and community engagement.
By the end of the course, the student will learn how to build cohousing and other developments affordably while not compromising sustainability or community, and in fact, significantly enhancing both in a very holistic way. Durrett has been motivated by all of the wonderful people that the has designed for who didn’t have enough money, but deeply wanted to get into cohousing. People who wanted to live lighter on the planet and in a community that they could afford to live in.