In the current US housing slump building firms are offering all sorts of financial incentives to get people into their homes, but rather than offer the usual lump sum, Sacramento based real estate firm LJUrban are taking a different approach - buy one of their eco-friendly houses in California, and they will pay for the training of a stone mason in West Africa.

The initial part of this scheme, named the Good Project, is the building of 35 individual green homes in the West Sacramento. The homes will be LEED certified under the new Neighborhood Development section of the LEED program, and will feature eco-initiatives such as solar panels, Nightbreeze air conditioning – which makes use of naturally colder nighttime air to cool the building during the day, dual flush toilets, white roofs designed to reflect heat and even carpet tiles and bathroom tiles made with recycled materials.

Every time LJUrban sell one of these new homes, which were made available view this month, they will provide funding to the charity the Association La Voûte Nubienne (AVN), who will train a local apprentice in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest nations in the world, in their sustainable building technique – which makes use of mud bricks and traditional building styles, rather than materials which are in short supply such as wood and corrugated iron.

The LJurban team hope the long-term impact of this commitment means entire villages throughout West Africa will experience dramatic socio-economic transformation – especially as each fully trained stone mason will take on apprentices of their own and pass on the skills.

The project was inspired by Tom’s Shoes, a company that donates a pair of shoes for a child in need for every pair bought in the US, and with plans already in place for further green communities within Sacramento, it could have a dramatic effect on villages in Africa and inspire other companies to begin similar initiatives.