Eco Housing Report English

Execution report of the Project ECOCASAS in Honduras January 2009

Introduction As its main goal, this project aims to “contribute to the sustainable development by concretely improving the house and its environment, making it comfortable and worthy for its inhabitants and simultaneously reducing the pressure on the environment such as the sources of energy and water” It intends to do so by building two sample houses in order to “demonstrate such houses to the wider public then to have ample market studies done on a topic hardly known by people” As initially intended, the two sample houses were built in Honduras.

Before

After

Quality of walls in the “compressed earth blocks” house before and after STRO’s intervention through the use of earth compressed blocks.

The conception of the idea for this project is by itself a remarkable contribution to the development and dissemination of ecological practices in Honduras, which was possible through the crucial support from TRIODOS Foundation. The development of the concept and design of the compressed earth blocks house was possible due to the remarkable support of RRE Energy and Tjerk Reininga from Bear Architecten. The implementation of the project in Honduras took place through the crucial participation of our local partner FUNDEVI (Fundacion para la vivienda social rural y urbana), who provided the space necessary to materialize the initial idea of the project, making remarkable contributions through its invaluable staff and participation. Habitat for humanity Honduras also played a leading role providing supervision for our first

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experience in working with compressed earth blocks, through the participation of its highly qualified staff. Implementing this project was a very challenging experience in the sense of breaking pre conceptions of traditional cost efficient construction techniques and alternative provision of basic services, that have been improved technically in relatively recent times, but that have been neglected due to lack of experimentation and dissemination. But the true reward lies on a very enriching experience that took place in terms of discovering, contributing and disseminating our own national knowledge and qualified human resources on eco housing, as well as international knowledge and practices. It brought on the promotion and formation of networks and future sources of work for our local contractors, as well as raising interest of potential users of the diverse elements of eco housing. Through implementation of this project, we were able to discover how remarkable is the willingness, faith and efforts of our own people to be part of an experience that involved a certain risk, in the belief that better conditions in social housing in Honduras can be achieved through the concept of eco housing.

Before

Initial and final stages of the wooden house construction

After

Implementation of the project in Honduras The project was implemented through two main phases: • Designing the local implementation scheme and website of the project. • Building of the two sample houses Designing the local implementation scheme and website of the project Developing this phase implied:

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Carrying on research on national and international sources of information, experiences and local contractors on ecological housing, obtaining inputs to define the technical design of the ecological house in the Honduran context. Determining the strategy to find a local partner willing to get involved in the building of the houses.

Wilmer and Julia, the owners of the wooden house, subscribing a credit contract with FUNDEVI to finance non ecological elements of the house.

“The house looks pretty, it feels cooler because of the upper Windows, we are glad to have a house of our own, the price seems reasonable. Now we’re much more safe from floods. We like the idea of the roof, the cieling provides protection and security. It would be very good if FUNDEVI gave more loans for this type of houses, since some neighbours have also liked the house very much. We would have liked it more if the water tank had been raised from the floor, so we could fill water deposits more easily, in some time, we could add a little motor to pump the water up. The water tastes good, just like “agua azul”. We would have also liked a larger surface for the ecostove, so we could cook more food at once. Very little wood is needed in this ecostove in comparison to the “fogon”, good savings are made. The house was built quite fast”.

Research was carried on through the setting up the project’s website, which would compile national and international sources of information and experiences, including that of STRO’s own staff. A thorough research on local institutions, contractors, and academia, national and international websites was carried on. This website is still under construction. As the information was being compiled, the technical design of the ecological house to be built in Honduras was shaped around the following technical elements: • Safe water provision: Rain water harvesting and storage • Walls: use of local materials such as wood or “compressed earth blocks” (an improved version of the traditional building block made out of compressed earth using a machine) • Sewerage: Reusable “aboneras” latrines (a waterless latrine that can be easily cleaned, emptied and reused) • Treatment of disposals from the sewage system: Recycling of water through a bio filter, to use for irrigation of crops. • Energy: Use of eco-stoves to reduce use of wood and smoke emission. Use of a biodigestor to generate energy

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Ventilation system: Solar and wind orientation of the house and special roof design to minimize solar exposition and increase inner ventilation. In order to find a local partner for the construction of the two sample houses, a marketing strategy was defined that would give a “modular” character to the house. This means that our local partner would be able to choose which ecological elements to implement on the sample house, in accordance to elements such as budget, specific conditions of the site of the project, future potential users of the house’s expectatives and local materials available. They were able to choose one, some or all of the before defined main ecological elements: •

Sustainability, operation and maintenance of the two sample houses were considered as very important aspects in order to find a local partner for the building phase. It was also considered convenient to approach the social housing sector institutions in Honduras, in order to tackle the needs of a larger target population group in Honduras and have a larger incidence of the replication of the ecological practices. This sector of the population also lacks more in access to basic services, and would find alternative means and cost effective solutions to basic services and building materials very attractive, as so would social housing credit institutions. With these aspects in mind, a scheme was designed in which the costs of the ecological houses would be shared among the partner institution and STRO. The first would provide a credit to the future owner of the house, covering the costs of the non ecological elements of the house. STRO would cover the costs of the ecological elements. In that way, maintenance of the ecological elements would be provided by people who would inhabit the houses, which are the credit holders. To fulfil this idea, two local credit housing institutions were contacted: FUNDEVI and IHCADE. Promotional material was distributed (see annex 1 in Spanish), and after some explanatory meetings and discussions, FUNDEVI was chosen based on interest expressed and willingness to engage in the ecohousing project. They also had the advantage of the potential to offer technical assistance as well, due to its technical staff present in every region of the country where they have regional offices.

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Technical staff and Julia Maria’s (one of the owners of the house) family at the beginning stage of the wooden house. From left to right: Julia’s uncle, our local contractor Jose Rios, Julia’s mother Doña Maria, Julia’s sister, STRO’s local advisor Carolina and FUNDEVI’s technical supervisor Arnoldo.

In the words of Jose Rios, our local contractor: “The house seen from afar looks like a birds house, people have said, but when they come close, they find it very pretty. Six persons have asked about it. The inside temperature is nice. The design of the roof is accepted by some people, some other would rather see the more traditional two slopes roof. A very good thing is that this type of house is not vulnerable to floods. Local people would take a credit for this type of house. The price seems reasonable. This house is luxurious, it helps to improve the urban image, is more earthquake resistant and the inside of the house feels very fresh. The floor could also be built with concrete, to make the house more solid and stable, but it would also be warmer.

FUNDEVI (Fundación para la vivienda social urbana y rural / Foundation for the social urban and rural house) is a large national credit for housing institution independent from the central government, with a central office in Tegucigalpa and regional offices all over Honduras. Their funding comes from the national government and international sources such as KFW and ASDI. They grant credits for construction, acquisition or remodelling of houses to families with a level of income lower than L 20,000.00, monthly, per family group. They also grant credits for provision of systems of basic services to new or existing urbanisations. Building of the sample two houses The building phase of the project started with identification of clients willing and interested in the project. This was a quite hard and time consuming objective to accomplish, since due to cultural reasons, an “compressed earth blocks” or wooden house are considered to be backwards methods of construction, practiced by extremely poor people who lack wealth to use concrete blocks. Adding to this, is the fact that social credit institutions do not finance houses built with this type of materials, which are considered extremely vulnerable and are not covered by insurance companies. This fact makes FUNDEVI’s decision to engage in the ecohousing project very remarkable, as there is a high risk involved, showing a very proactive attitude and interest towards research and practice of alternative ecological

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architecture. It was also very interesting to find that some of FUNDEVI’s staff had had training in ecological practices, but these were not being fully implemented yet. A few potential interested clients were identified, but some of them did not comply with minimum requisites for a credit or were living outside our target geographical region. After several joint efforts from STRO and FUNDEVI, two eligible clients were identified. It is interesting to note that the wooden house was very attractive for people living in areas where floods occur during the rainy season, and the compressed earth blocks house was attractive for the people with the lowest level of income among FUNDEVI’s target population (monthly income per family group of $1,000 aprox.). A costume made design was produced for the compressed earth blocks house, according to the client’s own preferences and financial resources. The original design for the wooden house by Jan Bos from The Netherlands was adapted and customised in accordance to local sizes of available wood, local conditions and the client’s own preferences and financial resources. With support from FUNDEVI’s regional staff in Yoro, local contractors for the building of the houses were identified and hired, having also been approved by the credit holders. As the houses were being built, training, learning and dissemination activities also took place, as is fully described in annexes 5 and 6.

Our local contractor for the compressed earth blocks house, Salomón Hernandez

“In the beginning, we struggled to find the right type of earth and to have the compressed earth blocks machine working smoothly, because it had some minor flaws and the heavy rains complicated the situation. After correcting the flaws of the machine and finding the right proportion of materials for the compressed earth blocks, production of them went on smoothly and the construction of the house went rapidly. It is much faster and easier than making traditional earth blocks, since the blocks can be used right away, drying them is not a requisite. The people who have worked with me, some have gotten too tired because of carrying the right type of earth all the way to the house, and some other have learned very quickly how to use the machine, and are willing to use this technique in the future. The house looks very good, some of my clients and neighbours are very interested in building their houses with this technique. Now comes the time to share this experience and technique with my fellows and colleagues, so more houses like this can be built.”

Comparing planned and achieved results

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The following table compares planned and actually achieved objectives and results of the project: Planned Specific Objectives Arrive at an affordable housing design applicable to Honduras in the climate of Comayagua and Yoro

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The adobe house is indeed affordable, since it proved to cost 87% to 93% lower than the cost of houses built in the Yoro region by FUNDEVI, who tackles the sectors of the population with very low levels of income. The compressed earth blocks technique complied perfectly with the high temperature climate in the region The wooden house proved to be almost equivalent in cost to houses built by FUNDEVI in the region. The design of the house respondent effectively to the flood prone and high temperature conditions of the climate in the region.

Construct two ecological The two houses were built, but both of them in Yoro, prototype houses, one in Yoro in the Municipalities of Yoro and El Negrito, tackling and one in Comayagua STRO’s geographical target area. Verify anticipated and specifications

benefits Benefits verified include: • lower cost of construction through the use of compressed earth blocks • training and dissemination of the techniques used for the ecological elements among the local population • Replication of some of the techniques already taking place • Raising local interest by demonstration • Networks formed for future replication of ecological elements • Improvement on the quality of water supply and less pressure on natural effluents • Less smoke emission and less use of wood through the use of the eco stove • Research and dissemination on national and international knowledge and experiences on ecological housing through the setting up of the eco house website, contributing to filling in the vacuum on local knowledge on eco housing practices • Potential for reducing the cost of water • More access to the provision of basic services such as water 7

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Train the local construction • and financing sector

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Disseminate the results to the • wider sector and policy makers to take them into account in the housing

Constructed houses provide a very effective way to disseminate the concept of ecohousing and fight preconceptions of people and institutions The design of the wooden house is extremely attractive for people living in flood prone areas Better indoor climate and healthy environment, less pollution of air, less fossil fuels use. Creation of a comfortable habitat that brings health (purified water, compressed earth blocks walls against bugs infections), and creates time for learning (highly participative opportunities in the making of compressed earth blocks, the rain water harvesting system and the eco stove), relaxation (lower area of the wooden house provides and extra social area perfect for relaxation), and income generating opportunities (the potential to sell purified water). Due to lower costs, more profit making opportunities for the financial and construction sectors Training of the local construction sector took place by the networks formed: o Habitat for humanity Honduras and CEVER trained a local contractor in the technique of compressed earth blocks making, who also trained members of the family who owns the house and members of his own staff. o Local inhabitants who approached the sites of the projects out of curiosity were also trained in terms of knowledge of ecological practices o CEASO trained some members of the family who owns the house and a local contractor in the technique of “ferrocemento” who also trained his own staff, and later replicated the technique. Training of the local financial sector took place by the involvement of FUNDEVI and habitat for humanity, both institutions having a strong financial component and remarkable local and national presence Dissemination of ecological practices through the website of the project under construction (a preliminary version can be viewed at http://ecocasas.shutterfly.com/)

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policies

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Some of FUNDEVI’s regional and national staff have visited the site of the project of the compressed earth blocks house and have expressed their liking and interest in the compressed earth blocks technique. They are actually considering the possibility to make the financing of compressed earth blocks houses one more of their products. Additionally, some local people with low levels of income have expressed their willingness to build their own houses with compressed earth blocks, having visited the site of the project, which turns them into potential clients of FUNDEVI.

Expected results Concrete design of two Modular concept of design elaborated and in use, ecological houses including including all aspects, showing a versatile design aspects of water, energy, adaptable to several contexts. material and vegetation adapted to the region, with extra costs in comparison with the standard one of max. 20%. Two ecological houses constructed one in the region Yoro and one in Comayagua. Each one will be tested by a family, who will collect the data, assisted by students.

Two houses constructed both within Yoro, STRO’s target geographical region. The families have expressed their liking of foreseen benefits and data on costs, comfort levels, inner sensorial temperature, and reliability of the ecological elements has been collected

Verification of its Information on comfort and technical data of the specifications and comfort of houses being preliminary explained on this document use put in technical information and evaluation report. Didactic material prepared for o Promotion material explaining the benefits and the housing construction elements of eco housing already circulating sector. among local housing institutions and contractors. o Didactic material on the rain water harvesting system already compiled Advanced training courses to Currently as a planned activity, involving people who the construction sector: one was involved and already trained as instructors. course for school of engineers, one course for the school of architects and one for the constructors of houses.

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Dissemination of the results: Webpage already in construction web page of the project, and links to connect to the pages of the others. Material for short Promotion material describing advantages of presentations in which ecological elements already in circulation benefits and costs are highlighted. Meetings with ministry of construction, banks, and savings and credit organizations.

Doña Maria, Martina’s mother, who oversees the construction and administrative issues of the compressed earth blocks house.

Meetings for the dissemination of the eco housing concept took place during the identification of a partner institution phase, with some savings and credit organisations such as IHCADE, Red Comal, BYSA, World Vision, Habitat for Humanity Honduras and Inmobiliaria del Valle

“The building of this house is a very good thing, it is very pretty and quite big, I never imagined I could have a house that looks so good, now people will think that I have a lot of money, and it is not such thing (giggling). When Salomón was struggling and making a big, real effort to have the compressed earth blocks come out just fine from the machine, and still they did not, I felt worried. But when they found the right type of earth, then the construction speeded up, and the walls started going up and up and I was very happy. This type of blocks works much better than the adobes, they look smoother, prettier and are faster. My son is learning how to make them and he also thinks they are better. My neighbours also like the house and are asking me about it”

Recommendations for implementation of the ecological housing concept in Honduras

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The cost of the wooden house per square meter turned out to be almost the same as the cost per square meter of a concrete block house built by FUNDEVI. However, the cost per square meter of walls is likely to be higher. A very concerning issue is the sustainability of wood as a construction material in Honduras, given that little reforestation or preventive use of wood education is locally available and illegal traffic and commerce levels are very high. The eco housing project could be implemented as a joint effort to promote reforestation of local woods and building of wooden houses in poles in flood prone areas. This would largely contribute to the sustainability of this type of eco house. It is also possible to consider further research on alternative light construction materials to keep the concept of a house built in poles in flood prone areas, such as bamboo, locally prefabricated wall sheets, etc. Some technologies for alternative sources of energy, such as solar panels, wind energy generating systems, and solar water heating commercial devices could not be implemented due to high costs, not in correspondence with the target population defined for the eco housing project. This elements could be considered for a further development of the project targeting a different sector of the population The implementation of a bio digestor as built by CEASO, a Honduran institution that practices ecological agriculture, might be unsustainable due to the fact that some construction materials are not found nationally. These materials have to be brought from abroad and it is unlikely that the delivery is made for small quantities. This element should be considered further for the development of small or large residential projects. Building through the compressed earth blocks technique through a learning process might be comparatively more time consuming (finding the right type of earth, learning to operate the machine efficiently, carrying the right type of earth when it is not near to the site of the project, increased costs due to experimentation) than building with concrete blocks. However, this problem could be overcome by holding training workshops for local contractors, so they would be ready and experienced when starting the building of an compressed earth blocks house. Traditional “adobes” or earth blocks structurally work by compression, since they are solid and thicker than the compressed earth blocks, needing no vertical or horizontal iron reinforcement. This brings the cost of the walls lower than that of compressed earth blocks. However, walls made with compressed earth blocks represent better health conditions, have better appearance, and are more resistant and durable than traditional adobe walls. It will be necessary to disseminate more the advantages of the compressed earth blocks among local inhabitants, in order to gain acceptance of the technique over the traditional adobe. Financial risk is still an issue to consider when approaching the financial sectors of social housing, who traditionally do not grant credits for houses built with this type of materials. It would be necessary to have dissemination and participative activities to change pre conceptions on wood and compressed earth blocks. It would also be possible to build houses though fiduciary financial schemes, decreasing the financial risk and making these alternatives more attractive to the financial sector.

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The first rain water harvesting system built turned out to be very expensive in comparison to a traditional piped water provision system. It was more expensive due to the cost of non local qualified human resources necessary to build it. However, it is an initial investment that pays return reducing considerably money spend on water bills. Moreover, through training of local contractors, the experience can be replicated, cutting costs down regarding qualified human resources that can now be found locally. Building the houses in the rainy season brought in very much inconvenience, operation problems within the financial system of our local partner, distrust on the technique, delays and increased costs. It is highly advisable to build this type of houses exclusively during the dry season.

Upcoming activities 1. The main upcoming activity is to continue measurement of performance of ecological components built in the sample houses. Afterwards, activities will be focussed on dissemination of the experience, knowledge gains and results of the project among the local and national housing sector. This would be done with the ultimate objective of promoting ecological practices and influencing institutional policies of the social housing sector, in order to make of them their own institutional practices and replicate the experience. It is also necessary to continue research on alternatives to the less favourable results found through this project in respect to the use of wood as a sustainable ecological material. 2. Dissemination of knowledge will be carried out through conferences attracting the building sector at national level such as the professional association of architects, engineers, construction firms, social housing institutions, etc. These conferences would be held once thorough measurement and analysis of the performance of ecological components of the two houses is done. They will be held in the cities where it would be possible to attract such institutions, such as Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, El Progreso, Yoro, covering nearby towns. Dissemination of practical knowledge and experience gained would be developed through training workshops for local contractors, using the recently improved capacity of the contractors that participated in the construction of both houses, so they can hold the training workshop themselves. These trainees would afterwards offer their services as supervisors of houses built with ecological materials, further disseminating training activities, in the same scheme that the two sample houses were built. The training workshops could be specialized in each of the ecological elements (rain water harvesting systems, ecostoves, “ferrocemento” tanks, dry latrines, sun heated water, biodegestors, etc. This way, local capacity building would take place and local applicability would be higher. The trainees could also be further trained in the creation of microenterprises that build and install ecological elements. The microenterprises could then receive support for commercialization of their products in the local market, for

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3.

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example, in hardware stores, in accordance to identified demand from local market studies. Techno environmental furthering of flood prone houses.The wooden house elevated in poles proved to be a very attractive solution to flood prone areas, and the concept could be improved by researching more on using bamboo as a substitute of wood. It would be even better if a further sample house could be built with this material, which could be smaller in size, as a complementary living area of an existing house, in order to reduce costs. Another possibility would be to implement the building of wooden houses along with a small reforestation project, so education and promotion of good practices on sustainability of wood and the environment would also be an important part of the project. Taking the experience to a larger scale though the development of a small urbanization would be of great interest in terms of further research, practice, dissemination and replication of ecological practices. It would include putting into action more ecological practices that can be developed only at a larger scale (wind power, biodigestors, sun generated energy, etc). It would also improve ecohousing national networking, by finding partners who would be willing to engage in this experience. Currently, a proposal of this initiative is being prepared to seek funding and find potential partners in order to make it a reality. The proposal would also include micro credit and mortgages for eco housing. Further research is to be conducted also on the sustainability of a biodigestor for individual houses, given that it has been currently found that the material needed for its construction is not found locally, and it is not delivered for small quantities, thus maintenance and replicability could be unsustainable, according to the experience of CEASO, a local institution who builds bio digestors. The performance of ecological elements varies in different contexts, influenced by factors such as the proximity of the right type of earth to the site of the project in the compressed earth blocks house, the availability of qualified contractors, the season in which the houses are built, the size of the house, etc. It is intended to further study these variables within the analysis of unitary costs in order to come up with different standard costs adapted to different contexts. The possibility to have TRIODOS foundation linked to national social housing credit institutions such as FUNDEVI, FUNED, IHCADE, etc, by establishing a fund for ecological practices, would be a very positive way to promote the concept of eco housing. These institutions could make ecological practices one more of their financing products, which funds they could use in special conditions for clients willing to engage in building their houses with ecological elements. A micro credit could be granted for actions by consumers to add on their house to make it more ecological: e.g. replacement of incandescent lamps with CFL's or LED. Installing a water catchment area to reduce scares tap water, installing a solar water heater, arrange cooling tree vegetation in the area. A full credit would be granted to the construction for new eco houses.

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Through the intervention of STRO, a link to complementary currencies could be built, in such a way that mixed credits would be granted, mostly with the local currency. The credit holders would pay local contractors and construction materials suppliers partly through the local currency, thus making a higher impact in local economic development, cutting down loan interests costs and increasing the institution´s clientele.

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ANNEX 1: PROMOTION MATERIAL

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Social Trade Organisation (STRO) STRO es una ONG Holandesa operando en Honduras desde el 2003. Su misión es encontrar

modelos económicos y tecnológicos innovadores que promueven el desarrollo económico local, utilizando lo más posible recursos locales para vitalizar el mercado local. Para esto STRO contribuye en la construcción de un sistema de intercambio equilibrado, basado en economías locales bien desarrolladas y diversificadas y en un tipo de moneda neutral que no lleve a un crecimiento compulsivo ni a la creación de pobreza a través de transferencias de interés del rico al pobre.

dar sombra, limpiar las aguas residuales, reduciendo la presión sobre el medio ambiente en cuanto el uso de energía y agua. Mas concreto este mini proyecto busca: • Llegar a un diseño efectivo en costos y aplicable para Honduras • Construir dos casas ecológicas prototipo en dos ambientes diferentes • Comprobar las bondades anticipadas de las casas ecológicas • Capacitar al sector financiero y de la construcción • Diseminar los resultados a un público más amplio A mediano plazo STRO busca promover el concepto de Ecocasas a una escala mayor facilitando su financiamiento a través de sistemas monetarios complementarios disponibles en la zona.

ECOCASAS consiste en un proyecto impulsado por STRO que tiene como objetivo construir casas que den a sus habitantes un vida mas agradable (mejor ventilación interna), cómodo (cocina sin humo) y sano (aguas residuales). El concepto ECOCASA encaja una gran variedad de prácticas de construcción y de habitación que no dañan al medio ambiente, aprovechan lo más posible y de forma sostenible los recursos localmente disponibles, incluyendo energía, agua, materiales y capacidad humana, reduciendo costos. Usa también vegetación y árboles frutales con fines múltiples: mejorar la alimentación y salud,

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LA ECOCASA

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Las ECOCASAS tienen diversos componentes ecológicos para el aprovisionamiento de servicios básicos y materiales de construcción, que son adaptables según los gustos y necesidades particulares del dueño de la casa y a cada contexto en particular. 2

COMPONENTES COMPONENTES DE LA ECOCASA 1. SISTEMA DE AGUA POTABLE Las aguas lluvias se recolectan a través de canales en el techo, que pasando a través de un filtro, alimentan de agua a: • Pilas a nivel de suelo para almacenamiento de agua y acarreo en baldes. • Tanque elevado. • Cisternas con bomba manual El agua así almacenada se usa para la ducha, lavatrastos, lavamanos, inodoros y letrinas de cierre hidráulico. También se puede calentar el agua con el sol y luego hacerla circular para la ducha o la cocina. También puede instalarse al mismo tiempo un sistema convencional de agua potable, conectándose alternativamente a la red publica. 2. PAREDES El uso de materiales locales que representan un menor costo se hace posible al construirse las paredes con adobe mejorado o madera, que también hace un mayor uso de la mano de obra local. Las casas construidas con adobe mejorado representan ahorros de hasta un 37% con respecto al bloque de concreto y de un 13% con respecto al ladrillo rafón. La casa de madera construida sobre polines es ideal para zonas inundables o con temperaturas muy altas ya que facilitan la circulación vertical de aire, haciendo la casa mas fresca.

3. SERVICIOS SANITARIOS En casos donde no hay acceso a la red de alcantarillado público, las letrinas aboneras proveen una solución muy higiénica y práctica para la deposición de excretas. No es necesario excavar muy profundo la fosa, y cuando esta se llena, se cubre con cal y se clausura, y se utiliza una nueva fosa. La fosa anterior puede vaciarse algún tiempo después de haber sido cerrada y usarse de nuevo. 4. SISTEMA DE AGUAS GRISES Y NEGRAS El agua usada de la ducha, lavatrastos y servicios es reutilizada para regar plantas y cultivos a través de un bio digestor que purifica el agua. 5. ENERGIA En casos donde no hay acceso a la red pública de energía eléctrica, puede utilizarse un fogón mejorado, de construcción artesanal, que ahorra entre un 50% y 60% de leña, produce menos humo y es más rápido y eficiente que el fogón convencional. 6. VENTILACION Las ventanas ubicadas donde reciben mayor viento y menos exposición solar, contribuyen a la frescura de la casa. Si la casa se construye en polines, se instalan rejillas de ventilación en el cielo falso y en el piso de la casa, que se abren o cierran como si fueran ventanas; permitiendo el flujo vertical de aire por toda la casa, manteniéndola fresca en días calurosos.

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ALGUNAS EXPERIENCIAS EXPERIENCIAS EN HONDURAS: Las tecnologías antes descritas ya se han implementado antes en Honduras, a continuación se describen algunas referencias sobre estas experiencias: • AGUA POTABLE: Tanques elevados, filtros, cisternas y bombas manuales construidas a través del Programa de agua y saneamiento del Fondo Hondureño de Inversion social. Pilas de agua potable “ferrocemento” construidas por ENASA CENTROAMERICA, asi como por el FHIS. • PAREDES: Casas de adobe mejorado construidas por MAS consultores en Valle de Angeles. Casas de madera construidas en Roatan. • SERVICIOS SANITARIOS: Letrinas aboneras construidas por ENASA CENTROAMERICA, así como por el FHIS. • SISTEMA DE AGUAS GRISES Y NEGRAS: Biofiltros construidos por FHIS, biodigestores construidos por CEASO en Siguatepeque. • ENERGIA: Fogones mejorados construidos por ENASA CENTROAMERICA en Tegucigalpa y ADESA, también en Tegucigalpa.

A corto plazo se busca construir y evaluar el funcionamiento de una o dos casas ecológicas con algunos o todos los componentes ecológicos antes mencionados. Para lograr estos objetivos, STRO busca una organización o institución local contraparte interesado en construir una casa bajo la modalidad de ECOCASA, a quien se le explicara el funcionamiento y beneficios de la ECOCASA. STRO aportara la parte de los costos correspondientes a los componentes ecológicos de la casa, como contraparte al aporte de la organización o institución para construir la casa. STRO también proporcionara supervisión de la construcción de los componentes ecológicos de la casa, al mismo tiempo que transmitirá las técnicas y conocimientos al encargado de la construcción de la casa, para favorecer la réplica de este tipo de construcciones en el futuro. La organización o institución contraparte por su parte se comprometerá a permitir visitas ocasionales para efectos demostrativos a la casa, brindando la oportunidad a STRO para mostrarla como ejemplo de buenas prácticas ecológicas de construcción y funcionamiento de una casa. La organización o institución contraparte puede tambien buscar un cliente especifico, quien puede adquirir un credito con instituciones como FUNDEVI para aportar la contraparte correspondiente.

PROPUESTA STRO PARA CONSTRUCCION DE ECOCASA El proyecto Ecocasas busca difundir el concepto de la casa ecológica encontrando familias interesadas en construir su propia casa con algunos o todos los componentes ecológicos.

Colonia Castaño Sur, Paseo Virgilio Zelaya Rubi, Edificio MARITERE, apartamento # 101 Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.

www.stro-ca.org Apartado Postal 3424 www.strohalm.net

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ANNEX 2: BLUEPRINTS COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS (CEB) HOUSE

ANNEX 3: ORIGINAL DESIGN WOODEN HOUSE

070119

HONDURAS

achtergevel

linker zijgevel

voorgevel

rechter zijgevel

4500

4500

4500 3662+ 2853+

11050 50

3600

100

2950

slapen

veranda

wonen

slapen

1225-

4200

2950

50

koken

6150

wassen/wc

berging

peil

100

dwarsdoorsnede

plattegrond

8550

Bos & Rijssenbeek Duurzaam Bouwen | Klompenmakerslaan 2 | 3781 DR Voorthuizen | Tel. 0342-473634 | Fax. 0342-473610

voorlopige schets schaal 1 : 100

4750

100

100 1200 50 1150 50

2350+

ANNEX 4: BLUEPRINTS WOODEN HOUSE

ANNEX 5: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS (CEB) HOUSE

Annex 5: Technical description of the compressed earth blocks house Initial conditions of the house The plot is located next to the main paved road from Yoro to El Progreso, the strongest economically Municipality of the region of Yoro, and about 10 km away from Yoro in the village “La Puerta”. The current conditions of the house are very precarious, consisting of a small single unit of 6x7m where 4 to 6 people sleep at night, “bahareque” walls (walls made out of thin poles of wood and earth), poor ventilation and lighting, poor structural conditions of the wall, roof made with zinc, intense high inner temperature, high level of smoke emission Front view of the original house through a conventional stove, water from the public system implying a monthly bill of L 100.00, not safe for drinking, no water storage , no electricity, hydraulic latrine. There is a second unit of the house, made out of cement blocks, consisting of two bedrooms. A third small unit of the house is being built by another member of the family, with traditional “adobe” (block made out of earth).

“Baharaque walls” (earth and fine wood pols)

Water provision system

1

Architectural design

FLOOR PLAN

ELEVATIONS

The full set of blueprints is found in Annex 2. 2

The size of the house (was determined by the available land plot and financial resources from the client. The client wished to replace the “bahareque” original house, and to have one more bedroom. Based on this conditions, a house consisting of two living spaces was designed, one of them to function as living, dinning room and kitchen and the second one as a bedroom. A front porch was also designed in order to comply with local architecture styles and to add well being and enjoyment of the house to the future owners. The small size of the plot limited the optimal orientation of placement of the house to minimize solar exposition and maximise wind use for ventilation purposes, but thick already existing vegetation and shade provided by trees help overcome this disadvantage.

Structural design Masonry foundations, lower and upper concrete wall concrete and iron beams, vertical iron reinforcement of middle and intersection points of walls, wooden doors and windows, wooden roof structure, cement and wood waste roof, concrete floors, concrete columns and front decorative elements.

Ecological elements: Compressed earth blocks walls: Compressed earth blocks fabricated through a compressed earth blocks machine commissioned to CEVER, a local technical middle education school in Yoro, with ample experience on making this type of machines. The time of fabrication of the machine was 5 weeks. These types of blocks are made with earth, cement and water, compressing them on the machine. Training on operation and maintenance to the local contractor by CEVER’S staff and Habitat for Humanity Honduras. Size of Adobloque walls the block: 30 cm long x 15 cm tall x 15 cm depth, of which up to a hundred are being fabricated daily out of a mixture of earth, water, cement and lime in the following proportions: 4 carts of earth, ½ bag of cement ½ bag of lime and enough water to make the mixture malleable. It took 1,560 blocks aprox. to build this house.

•

Operating the compressed earth blocks machine Adobloque machine

3

Sun drying the compressed earth blocks

• Rain water harvesting system: Water from rain is collected through roof canals, then it is made safe to drink by passing it through a purifying filter made out of local materials (coil, stone and sand), and deposited into a “ferrocemento” container. The “ferrocemento” technique consists in a metallic grid reinforced with cement, shaped as a circular container. This technique is very participative, since all members of the family can help knitting the metallic grid. In the case of the adobe house, the building of this element is much cheaper than the first experience had in the wooden house, since local contractors were trained in the technique and are now able to replicate the experience Rain water container and filter

•

Eco stove: A stove made out with some local materials, which uses 40% of the wood that traditional “fogones” or stoves use, producing less smoke. It is at the same time an oven, which can be used simultaneously. Some pieces of the oven that were not made locally can be replied through local contractors. The construction of this oven is highly participative, since non qualified workers are a great help in the construction. The Eco stove

•

•

Roof: A locally fabricated roof is used, that’s made out of cement, earth, water and wood disposals. This roof is fabricated in a medium size enterprise located in Yoro. Finishing of the walls: It is made out of earth, with a small portion of cement.

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Different types of wall finishing, with different proportions of earth and cement.

Owners of the house The owner of the house is Martina Dignabel, a teacher working in a village nearby Yoro. She is a single mother of two children. Ever since Martina and her mother, Doña Maria, approached FUNDEVI looking for a credit to build their house, they wanted it to be built with earth blocks. They were very interested in participating in this project from the beginning. Due to low level of income, Martina was initially not eligible for a credit through FUNDEVI, and also because FUNDEVI does not finance houses made with earth blocks. Through STRO’s participation in the project, she became eligible, and got the maximum amount of credit possible according to her level of income. Doña Maria, who lives with Martina oversees the construction of the house and is in charge of administrative issues.

Final design adaptations The shape of the upper part of the walls was redesigned according to recommendations given from habitat for humanity Honduras for compressed earth blocks buildings, which indicate that a wall height superior to 1 m for the roof ridge is not structurally stable. This implied having one single ridge for the roof, instead of the initially designed difference in heights in the roof:

Original design of the roof

Modified design of the roof, actually built

Additionally, the foundations were built taller than originally planned, bringing part of them higher than the ground surface, in order to give full isolation of the compressed earth blocks from the ground, to avoid water infiltration. This was also done following habitat for humanity recommendations. The height of the doors was reduced by 16cm, since stability of compressed earth blocks walls is not gained yet by the time in which the door openings are being built, which endangers the 5

stability of the structure. Only later we found out that this would have not been a problem, since stability is gained by the time the upper wall beams are being built. The original design of the front arcs was also modified according to local concepts and preferences of architectural aesthetics. The owner of the house preferred a style that is very much in use in the local area. This is very good in the sense that the house will be more attractive lo local people, hence having more possibilities of replication and attracting interested persons.

Final design of the front arcs of the house

Time of construction It took three months to construct this house, having started on November 11, 2008 and programmed to be finished by February 11, 2009. The time took longer than expected due to bad weather, learning process of operation of the compressed earth blocks machine, initial minor technical flaws of the machine and finding and obtaining the adequate type of earth for the compressed earth blocks. Hereby a chronological reference of the construction of the house, in reference to the elements to be built by STRO (foundations and walls): o September 21, 2008: commissioning of the fabrication of the compressed earth blocks machine to CEVER o November 11, 2008: • Delivery of the machine to the site of the project • Official start date of the project. • Search for the adequate type of earth for the compressed earth blocks

CEVER’s technicians delivering the machine

Trying out different types of earth for the compressed earth blocks

6

o November 21, 2008: • 19% general advance • Excavation of foundations finished • First unsuccessful tryouts of different types of earth found nearby the site of the project for the compressed earth blocks, severely affected by heavy rains that made the water content in the soil much too high to provide cohesion to the block. Additionally, the type of earth available nearby had a content of sand too high for the fabrication of compressed earth blocks.

Excavation for the foundations

Try outs for the adobloques

o November 27, 2008: • 37% general advance • Half of the foundations finished • Right conditions of earth found for the compressed earth blocks, using a clay containing type of earth found aprox. 200meters up the main road from the site of the project. • Starting of massive production of compressed earth blocks o December 10, 2008 • 41% general advance • Ongoing production of compressed earth blocks • Starting of walls • Foundation and lower beams finished • Constructing of the porch columns

•

Construction of walls Construction of porch columns

7

o December 19 , 2008: • 47% general advance • Ongoing massive production of compressed earth blocks • Ongoing construction of walls

Compressed earth blocks sun drying

Compressed earth blocks walls

o December 30 , 2008: • 52% general advance • Ongoing constructions of walls • Start of construction of the upper beam o January 8, 2009: • 76% general advance • Upper beam finished • Fabrication of windows and doors, placement of frames into the walls • Tryouts for the finishing of the walls, made out of cement, earth and water

Placement of door and windows frames

Compressed earth blocks w alls and different tryouts for their finishing

8

o January 21, 2009: • 97% general advance • Roof structure built • Windows and doors fabricated

Roof structure

o February 18, 2009: • 100% general advance

The finished BTC house and Doña Maria, the owner

Supervision Given that earth architecture is not very much in use in Honduras, implying that little knowledge and practice is available in Honduras, it was necessary to search for adequate supervision for the project. Two Honduran architecture offices with experience on compressed earth blocks were contacted, to find out more about 9

the technique and possibilities of a supervision agreement with STRO. One of them was located in San Pedro Sula and the other one in Tegucigalpa. The visits to these offices produced more knowledge for our project in respect to the compressed earth blocks, receiving advice on the technique and design of a house to be built with compressed earth blocks. Habitat for humanity was also contacted, finding out that they have had experiences with compressed earth blocks for social housing projects. They also had a very competent and experienced member of their staff, Heber Sabillon, a civil engineer who had been promoting and coordinating compressed earth blocks housing projects within habitat. A decision was made to have Habitat supervise the construction of eco housing project, based on the prospective and convenient relation among STRO and Habitat for the dissemination purposes of the eo housing project, given the international character of habitat and strong national presence. An agreement was subscribed among the 2 institutions, for the purpose of supervision of the house, obtaining convenient technical advisory during the construction of the house, given our lack of experience on compressed earth blocks.

Costs The total cost of the project in respect to the compressed earth blocks house, including the costs incurred by the owner of the house is of L149,101.42. The following table describes the distribution of these costs:

Budget of the compressed earth blocks house Direct costs provided by STRO 1 Construction materials for foundations and walls 2 Labour for construction of foundations and walls 3 Construction materials for surface foundations Construction materials for reinforcement of walls Construction materials and labour for exterior 4 finishing of walls 5 Eco stove 6 Rain harvesting system sub total Indirect costs provided by STRO 1 Compressed earth blocks machine 2 Supervision

L. 26,854.00 L. 19,200.00 L. 1,500.00 L. 4,400.00 L. 3,000.00 L. 7,050.00 L. 11,679.50 L. 73,683.50

L. 17,000.00 L. 9,825.70

Additional labour for extended time of construction due to bad weather conditions and learning process L. 5,000.00 3 of operation of the machine sub total L. 31,825.70 10

Direct costs provided by the owners of the house Credit from FUNDEVI: construction materials and 1 labour for doors, windows, floor and roof L. 43,051.23 2 Electrical system L. 541.29 sub total L. 43,592.52 TOTAL

L. 149,101.72

o The total cost incurred by STRO is of L 105,509.2. o The total cost of the house, excluding the ecostove and the rain water harvesting system is of L 130,372.22 o The cost per square meter of the house (excluding indirect costs, the cost of extra foundations built, the cost of the eco stove and the cost of the exterior finishing, and including costs provided by the owner of the house) is of L 2,619.25. This cost represents approximately 93% to 97% of the cost per square meter of houses regularly built by FUNDEVI in the rural areas nearby Yoro (L 2,700.00- L 2,800) with concrete blocks in the same conditions as the adobe house. o The cost of the wall per square meter is of L 219.96, without iron reinforcement. A basis for comparison is that the cost per square meter of a wall built with concrete blocks in San Pedro Sula is of L 297.98. o The rain water harvesting system is obviously more expensive than a piped conventional water system installation, but it is also a medium term investment that provides returns once it is in operation by exclusion of a water bill. If the adobe house had been built with a conventional water provision system, the cost per square meter would have been of L 2,365.08, which is approximately 84% to 87% of FUNDEVI’s costs. o The cost per square meter of an compressed earth blocks house built by Habitat for Humanity is of L 2,100 in a rural area similar to the site of our project. This cost is 80% lower than the cost of the house built through STRO with the rain water harvesting system and 88% lower than a house built through STRO with a conventional piped water system. This difference is due to intense use of non qualified human resources, through methods of community participation during the construction of the houses by habitat for humanity. It is lower also because of lower prices in construction materials due to economies of scale.

Institutions and contractors involved o Habitat for Humanity Honduras: In charge of the supervision of the project. They are present in the north and western area of Honduras, with a regional office in San Pedro Sula. They have staff with ample experience on compressed earth blocks houses, and are themselves implementing this technique on several of their projects. o CEASO (Centro de aprendizaje de agricultura sostenible / learning centre for sustainable agriculture): In charge of the building of the rain water 11

harvesting system. They are a private integral farm with knowledge on techniques and human resources training in ecological agriculture and other ecological practices. o ENASA (energía, ambiente y salud/energy, environment and health): In charge of construction of the eco stove. They are a non profit, socioenvironmental collective that offers consultancies, construction and training in building all types of appropriate and ecological technologies. o Salomón Hernandez: In charge of the construction of the house. He is a local building contractor with ample experience on traditional earth bricks. He is much known locally and has several houses built around Yoro. o CEVER (Asociación de Instituciones Evangélicas de Honduras, A.I.E.H.CEVER / Association of evangelistic institutions of Honduras): In charge of fabrication and training in operation of the compressed earth blocks machine. CEVER is based in Yoro and regularly manufactures compressed earth blocks machines to institutions such as habitat for humanity, NGO’s, etc. They also provide technical assistance and maintenance to the machine.

Technical problems encountered during the building of the house o Heavy rains: the construction phase of this project started during the rainy season in Honduras, which particularly affects the fabrication of compressed earth blocks. Since the earth has soaked humidity, it is hard to achieve cohesion when operating the compressed earth blocks machine, and the earth blocks disintegrate completely when they are removed from the machine. o Finding the right type of earth for the compressed earth blocks: The type of earth found nearby to the site of the project was unsuitable due to its high content of sand, but this conclusion did not arrive immediately because of the high degree of humidity contained in the earth. Several tryouts of compressed earth blocks were experimented through different proportions of cement and lime, obtaining unsuccessful results. This severely affected the time of construction of the house, considerably increasing it. New types of earth were found approximately 200 meters up the main road from the site of the project. o Right type of earth found away from the site of the project: This meant increased costs, due to transport of this earth to the site of the project. For the fabrication of good quality compressed earth blocks, the earth has to be sifted to remove impurities. Ideally, this should be done right in the place where the earth is being collected, before it is taken to the site of the project. This situation also implies increased costs and time, since extra labour is needed to be in the place where the earth is being collected, sifting the earth, needing also supervision from the master mason. This situation took the incentive away from one of the workers who resigned on the basis that it was much too hard to carry the earth to the site of the project, clean it and use only 70% or 80% of it.

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o Little knowledge initially on the compressed earth blocks structural aspects: In order to achieve the maximum use of local resources, a decision was made to build the house through a local contractor with experience only in the traditional type of earth block. The main disadvantage found due to this situation was that some structural elements necessary to provide stability in constructions with compressed earth blocks were not built from the beginning, resulting in unstable walls before the construction of the upper wall beam and decreased heights of doors. It was only through the intervention of the supervision from Habitat for Humanity Honduras during their second visit that this situation was indicated and a solution was found: to build buttresses if necessary once the walls were finished since not enough reinforcement was used before the beginning of the constructions of the walls. Fortunately, this was not necessary. o Learning to operate and know the machine is time consuming: During the first tryouts of the machine in the site of the project, the compressed earth blocks did not come out well. This was also due to inexperience on the operation of the machine, besides the time it takes to find the right type of earth. It took some time to find out that the machine had a small technical flaw that was indicated during the second visit of the supervisor from Habitat for Humanity Honduras. The flaw was immediately fixed by CEVER and the machine then worked out great. o Finding the right mixture for the finishing of walls requires several tryouts that do not come out well from the beginning: This situation makes the client think that a finishing made out of a higher proportion of earth than cement will eventually break down, as opposed to the traditional type of wall finishing. So confidence on the technique is affected.

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ANNEX 6: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WOODEN HOUSE

Annex 6: Technical description of the wooden house Initial conditions of the house: The site of the project is located in El Negrito, Yoro, in the area of Battan, nearby a dirt road that serves as a secondary connection between the cities of El Progreso in the department of Yoro and Tela in the department of Atlántida. It is located 30 minutes away from El Progreso, starting on the main Pan-American road that leads to the north atlantic region of Honduras. This dirt road is in very good conditions year round, since it also leads to the headquarters of Front view of the plot

hondupalma, a large national oil producing company. Currently, the family has no house of their own, but has a plot of land within a larger plot where the sisters of the credit holder also live. There is access to a private source of piped water (not safe for drinking) implying a monthly bill of L 100, access to electricity, high level of smoke emission through a conventional stove, and a hydraulic latrine.

Architectural design :

FLOOR PLAN

FRONT ELEVATION

The original design for the wooden house provided from the Netherlands (see annex 3) was adapted to local conditions determined by the financial resources from the client and their personal needs of living spaces, including their distribution. The sizes of the living spaces were reduced, as so were sizes of the windows for security reasons. The spaces were redistributed to gain more circulation convenience over the loss of living areas. The orientation of the house followed minimal solar exposition. See annex 4 for the full set of blueprints of the wooden house.

Structural design Concrete and poles berried 1m underground. The underground section of the poles is of 28x28cm, slightly decreasing towards the floor platform of the house. A concrete and iron base made out of horizontal beams over the poles, holds the wooden floor structure. Pine wood acquired locally for walls and floors. Gypsum board ceiling. Wooden roof structure and aluzinc roof. Wooden doors, windows and stairs

Ecological elements: •

Wood as the main construction material: The wood was acquired through a local provider, owner of a hardware store. This wood comes from local forests in the region of Yoro and Olancho. The owner of the hardware store has gradually acquired machinery and equipment to process the wood and sell it in costume sized pieces. The lightness of wood as a construction material made it possible to build the house over poles.

Wooden walls

Wooden floors viewed from below

•

House built over poles: The elevated floors of the house make a remarkable difference regarding safety from floods, which occur frequently in the region of the site of the project, that also has the highest levels of annual precipitation in the department of Yoro .This feature made the wooden house very attractive to FUNDEVI’s clients living in flood prone areas. The poles also provide a very nice place underneath the house that is used as an extra social area away from the sun and Poles of the wooden house cooler in temperature.

•

Elevated roof design: The elevation of the lowest point of the roof from the walls forms an external air camera that creates vertical circulation of air through small horizontal windows built in the ceiling and on the floors, cooling the inner temperature of the house. The elevated roof also provides the gypsum board ceiling isolation from the sun heat, contributing to decrease the inner temperature of the house. The large sidewards extensions of the roof provide the ceiling protection from the rain.

Detail of the elevation of the lowest point of the roof from the walls

Horizontal upper windows for ventilation.

•

Rain water harvesting system: Water from rain is collected through roof canals, then it is made safe to drink by passing it through a purifying filter made out of local materials (coil, stone and sand), and deposited into a “ferrocemento” container. The “ferrocemento” technique consists in a metallic grid reinforced with cement, shaped as a circular container. This technique is very participative, since all members of the family can help knitting the metallic grid. The building of this system was commissioned to CEASO, whose main offices are located in Siguatepeque, three hours away from the site of the project. In order to be affordable by clients of the social housing sector, this Rain water container and filter technique needs high participation of non qualified human resources. In this particular case, there were not enough persons who could contribute to this aspect, and local mason helpers had to be hired, supervised by the local contractor in charge of building the house. This meant increased costs, but at the same time, it implied transferring knowledge and experience to local workers of the construction sector, that at by end of the experience, expressed that they were now able to replicate the experience by them Replication of the ferrocemento selves. This is a remarkable achievement in technique by the local contractor of the wooden house, in the finishing this project, and it is likely that further of the bathroom walls construction of these systems will be carried out by the recently trained local workers of the construction sector in Yoro, decreasing the cost of this ecological element. An actual example can be observed in the finishing used in the bathroom walls, the local contractor used the same technique learned during the fabrication of the rain water harvesting system, taking advantage of spare material and recently acquired skills. Given that the inhabitants of this house pay a monthly water bill, there’s strong potential for this system to help reduce water costs, and also of it becoming a business opportunity, since the water storage, once filled, can last up to a year; and so water could be sold to neighbours at a cheaper price or in times of system failure.

Fabricating the “ferrrocemento” water tank

Close up of the metallic grid before the reinforcing cement plaster

When the system was finished and a little rain fell, the users tasting the water, affirming that it has good taste. •

Eco stove: A stove made out with some local materials, which uses 40% of the wood that traditional “fogones” or stoves use, producing less smoke. It is at the same time an oven, which can be used simultaneously. Some pieces of the oven that were not made locally can be replied through local contractors. The construction of this oven is highly participative, since non qualified workers are a great help in the construction. The Eco stove

During the construction of this element, many women neighbours approached the site of the project, expressing interest on the techniques and uses of the eco stove, learning about how it is built, operated and how it could be replicated.

Explaining the eco stove to a group of neighbours

Local women participating in the construction of the eco stove

Owners of the house They are a local couple living and working in el Progreso, Yoro, with two children. Wilmer Alfonso Cruz works at the nearby oil processing plant Hondupalma and Julia Maria Diaz Quintero works in a maquila. Due to their low level of income, they were initially not eligible for a credit through FUNDEVI, but through STRO’s participation in the project, they got the maximum amount of credit possible according to their level of income. Julia Maria’s mother and sisters, who live in the larger plot where her own plot is located, oversee The owners of the house subscribing a credit the construction of the house and are with FUNDEVI in charge of administrative issues.

Final design adaptations There were no significative changes in the design adapted to local conditions, based on the original design from the Netherlands.

Time of construction 1.5 months, having started on October 9, 2008. By November 17, the roof had been built; only the placement of doors, windows and sanitary furniture was missing, which took approximately one more week, at the beginning of December. Hereby a chronological reference of the construction of the house, in reference to the elements to be built by STRO (foundations, poles, floors, walls and roof) o September 30, 2008: Commissioning of the wood and construction materials necessary to build the house to a local hardware store o October 9, 2008: Delivery of the construction materials to the site of the project and starting order for the building of the house given to the local contractor

Wood delivered to the site of the project

o October 16, 2008:






16.5% general advance 8 out of 9 constructed concrete poles Ongoing construction of the concrete lower support structure for wooden walls

Constructing the lower concrete support structure for the wooden walls

o October 23, 2008:
44.5% general advance
Finished concrete poles and lower support structure for wooden walls
Wooden floor finished
Starting of the construction of the walls

Constructing the wooden walls

o November 6, 2008: • 80.5% general advance • Ongoing construction of wooden walls

Ongoing construction of walls

o November 12, 2008: • 90% general advance • Wooden walls finished

•

Finished roof structure

Roof structure

o November 2,, 2008 • 100% general advance (in reference to STRO’s intervention for the house, excluding doors, windows, ecostove and rain water harvesting system) • Finished roof • Finished stairs

• Finished house in terms of STRO’s intervention for the main structural works

o December 9, 2008 • Beginning of the construction of the rain harvesting system

Constructing the roof water canal

Training future users of the rain water harvesting system on its concept and use

o December 18, 2008 • Rain water harvesting system finished • Construction of the eco stove Finished rain water harvesting system Construction of the ecostove

o J a n

o January 9, 2009 • Doors and walls placed • House, ecostove and rain water harvesting system in use

Finished house in use

Locally made wooden windows

Prefabricated door made out of compressed wood residual

Inhabited house

Costs The total cost of the project in respect to the wooden house , including the costs incurred by the owner of the house is of L177,513. 28 The following table describes the distribution of these costs: Budget of the wooden house Direct costs provided by STRO 1 Construction materials for foundations, poles, floors, walls, ceiling and roof 2 Labour for construction of foundations, poles, floors, walls, ceiling and roof 3 Eco stove 4 Rain harvesting system sub total

L. 85,150.00 L. 22,000.00 L. 7,850.00 L. 26,559.00 L. 141,559.00

Indirect costs provided by STRO Supervision and qualified human resources for assistance in the building of 1 the rain water harvesting system and the eco stove L. 5,000.00 sub total L. 5,000.00 Direct costs provided by the owners of the house Credit from FUNDEVI: construction materials and labour for doors, 1 windows, electrical and sewerage systems. L. 30,954.28 sub total L. 30,954.28 TOTAL o The total cost incurred by STRO is of L 146,559.2.

L. 177,513.28

o The cost per square meter of the house (excluding indirect costs and the cost of the eco stove, and including costs provided by the owner of the house) is of L 3,221.11, which is approximately 15% to 19% higher than the cost per square meter of houses regularly built by FUNDEVI in the rural areas nearby Yoro (L 2,700.00- L 2,800) with concrete blocks. o The rain water harvesting system is obviously more expensive than a piped conventional water system installation, especially in the case of the wooden house, that was our first experience and implied hiring non local expensive human resources with travelling and lodging expenses. But a system like this is also a medium term investment that provides returns once it is in operation by exclusion of a water bill. If the wooden house had been built with a conventional water provision system, the cost per square meter would have been of L 2,736.75, which is approximately 97% lower to 1% higher than FUNDEVI’s costs for concrete block houses.

Institutions and contractors involved o CEASO (Centro de aprendizaje de agricultura sostenible / learning centre for sustainable agriculture): In charge of the building of the rain water harvesting system. They are a private integral farm with knowledge on techniques and human resources training in ecological agriculture and other ecological practices. o ENASA (energía, ambiente y salud/energy, environment and health): In charge of construction of the eco stove. They are a non profit, socioenvironmental collective that offers consultancies, construction and training in building all types of appropriate and ecological technologies. o José Rios: In charge of the construction of the house. He is a local building contractor with ample experience on wooden houses. He is much known locally and has several houses built around the region. He lives nearby the site of the project o Local hardware store : Provider of construction materials, high potential for improved prices on future opportunities

Technical problems encountered during the building of the house o Future owners do not like the horizontal windows, they find them non practical for operation and unsafe for security reasons, although they have an in built iron grid that hinders access from the outside. An agreement was reached: they would be able to shut them close permanently if they wished to do so but only after measurements of temperature were made by STRO. o Building of the rain water harvesting system increased in costs due to unavailability of non qualified human resources, which made the hiring of local people necessary in order to meet time goals, increasing the costs. The fact that there is no regional experience on this type of experiences also added to the costs, since qualified personnel from CEASO in the site of the project implied travelling, lodging, etc expenses.

o Building the house in the rainy season affected the quality and timing of the building of the house, since wood was exposed to heavy rains and then to intense sun, making the wood swelled and the joints walls an unperfected fit. This problem will be fixed by a “resane” of the walls with wood disposal mixed with glue. o Unavailability of the type of roof required delayed the construction of this element, since it was custom-made size and only available in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras, an hour away from the site of the project.