November 2002
BUILDING MATERIALS SUPPLY A STRATEGY FOR DISASTER RELIEF. CIDEMs Actions in Villa Clara
When Hurricane Lili tore through Cuba in October of this year, the municipality of Sagua Grande was prepared to confront the aftermath. The action strategy developed by CIDEM consists of creating local conditions for the application of building technologies and production of materials in the affected area, conveniently adapted to the specific regional characteristics. Ecomaterials production, therefore, becomes a basic condition to begin any reconstruction action based upon sustainable criteria, since it allows the creation of local bases to eliminate external dependencies for building materials supply.
EcoSouth Certificate Quality for MCR workshops
EcoSouth has developed a system and criteria to assess MCR workshops, in order to grant a Certificate of Quality. Preliminary tests were carried out in selected workshops in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Cuba. Since then Certificates of Quality have been granted to more than 100 workshops throughout Latin America.
News - November 2002
Hot off the Press Technical sheet about sand and mortar mixes for MCR tiles - Cameroon
A Newly published technical sheet is now available in English through EcoSouth. South African architect Peter Dunckley has brought together the key points of consideration in designing effective sand and mortar mixes in a clear and graphic manner. The 10 page technical sheet is a must for tile workshops and MCR instructors.
FENAVIP director appointed vice-minister of housing - Colombia
At the beginning of November a director of EcoSouth´s Columbian partner FENAVIP, Josue Gastelbondo Amaya, was named vice-minister of housing by the president of Columbia. This appointment comes as a result of his efforts at FENAVIP, which specializes in low-cost housing construction with base organizations. In all its housing projects FENAVIP uses MCR for the roofs and in some projects alternative cement (CP40) in cement blocks and paving stones. FENAVIP hopes that this high-level appointment will open doors to a wider dissemination of the ecomaterials concept in
Study visit to housing projects in Ecuador and Colombia - Ecuador
In November a study visit to Guayaquil and Bogota exposed other EcoSouth colleagues to highly-developed commercial endeavors in both the social housing and upmarket sectors. These projects incorporate ecomaterials into their buildings in an efficient and effective manner and, thus, management aspects became a major focus of the visit. The visiting construction professionals were able to expand their knowledge with an aim to making their own projects and businesses more economically efficient.
