eco housing report english

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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.

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

Quality of walls in the “compressed earth blocks”

house before and after STRO’s intervention

through the use of earth compressed blocks.

Before After



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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.

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:

Initial and final stages of the

wooden house construction

Before

After



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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 inHonduras, 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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The following table compares planned and actually achieved objectives and results of

the project:

Planned Actual

Specific Objectives

Arrive at an affordable

housing design applicable to

Honduras in the climate of

Comayagua and Yoro

• 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

prototype houses, one in Yoro

and one in Comayagua

The two houses were built, but both of them in Yoro,

in the Municipalities of Yoro and El Negrito, tackling

STRO’s geographical target area.

Verify anticipated benefits

and specifications

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



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• 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

Train the local construction

and financing sector

• 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

Disseminate the results to the

wider sector and policy

makers to take them into

account in the housing

• 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 • 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

ecological houses including

aspects of water, energy,

material and vegetation

adapted to the region, with

extra costs in comparison

with the standard one of max.

20%.

Modular concept of design elaborated and in use,

including all aspects, showing a versatile design

adaptable to several contexts.

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

specifications and comfort of

use put in technical

information and evaluation

report.

Information on comfort and technical data of the

houses being preliminary explained on this document

Didactic material prepared for

the housing construction

sector.

o Promotion material explaining the benefits and

elements of eco housing already circulating

among local housing institutions and contractors.

o Didactic material on the rain water harvestingsystem already compiled

Advanced training courses to

the construction sector: one

course for school of engineers,

one course for the school of

architects and one for the

constructors of houses.

Currently as a planned activity, involving people who

was involved and already trained as instructors.



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Dissemination of the results:

web page of the project, and

links to connect to the pages

of the others.

Webpage already in construction

Material for short

presentations in which

benefits and costs are

highlighted.

Promotion material describing advantages of

ecological elements already in circulation

Meetings with ministry of

construction, banks, and

savings and credit

organizations.

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

Recommendations for implementation of the ecological

housing concept in Honduras

Doña Maria, Martina’s mother,

who oversees the construction

and administrative issues of the

compressed earth blocks house.

“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 compressedearth 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”



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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 couldbe 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 befocussed 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. Theseconferences 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



ANNEX 1: PROMOTION MATERIAL



EEEE CCCC OOOO CCCC AAAA SSSS AAAA SSSS

Social Trade Organisation (STRO)Social Trade Organisation (STRO)Social Trade Organisation (STRO)Social Trade Organisation (STRO)STRO es una ONG Holandesaoperando 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 deintercambio equilibrado, basado en economías locales biendesarrolladas y diversificadas y en un tipo de moneda neutral que no

lleve a un crecimiento compulsivo ni a la creación de pobreza através de transferencias de interés del rico al pobre.

ECOCASASECOCASASECOCASASECOCASAS 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 ECOCASAECOCASAECOCASAECOCASA 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,

dar sombra, limpiar las aguas

presión sobre el medio ambien

energía y agua.

Mas concreto este mini proyecto• Llegar a un diseño efectivo e

Honduras

• Construir dos casas ecológ

ambientes diferentes

• Comprobar las bondades a

ecológicas

• Capacitar al sector financiero y

• Diseminar los resultados a un p

A mediano plazo STRO busca p

Ecocasas a una escala mayor fac

través de sistemas monedisponibles en la zona.



ANNEX 2: BLUEPRINTS COMPRESSED

EARTH BLOCKS (CEB) HOUSE



ANNEX 3: ORIGINAL DESIGN WOODEN

HOUSE



Bos & Rijssenbeek Duurzaam Bouwen | K lompenmakerslaan 2 | 3781 DR Voorthuizen | Tel. 0342-473634 |

H O N D U R A S

achtergevel

voorgevel

plattegrond

slapen

slapen

koken

wonen

b e r g i n g

w a s s e n / w c

veranda

11050

6 1 5 0

8550

1001200 501150 50 4750 50 3600 100

1 0 0

2 9 5 0

5 0

2 9 5 0

1 0 0

4500 4500 4500



ANNEX 4: BLUEPRINTS WOODEN

HOUSE



ANNEX 5: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

OF THE COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS

(CEB) HOUSE



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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 strongesteconomically 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 emissionthrough 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).

Front view of the original house

“Baharaquewalls” (earth

and fine wood

pols)

Water provision

system



2

Architectural design

The full set of blueprints is found in Annex 2.

FLOOR PLAN

ELEVATIONS



3

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 designMasonry 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

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.

Adobloque walls

Adobloque machine

Operating the compressed earth blocks

machine



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• 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

• 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.

• 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.

Sun drying the compressed

earth blocks

Rain water container and filter

The Eco stove



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o December 19 , 2008:

• 47% general advance

• Ongoing massive production of compressed earth blocks

• Ongoing construction of walls

o December 30 , 2008:


• Ongoing constructions of walls

• Start of construction of the upper beam

o January 8, 2009:


• 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

Compressed earth blocks sun drying Compressed earth blocks walls

Placement of door and windows frames Compressed earth blocks w alls

and different tryouts for their

finishing



9

o January 21, 2009:


• Roof structure built

• Windows and doors fabricated

o February 18, 2009:• 100% general advance

SupervisionGiven 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

Roof structure

The finished BTC house and Doña Maria, the owner



10

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 L. 26,854.00

2 Labour for construction of foundations and walls L. 19,200.00

3 Construction materials for surface foundations L. 1,500.00

Construction materials for reinforcement of walls L. 4,400.00

4

Construction materials and labour for exterior

finishing of walls L. 3,000.00

5 Eco stove L. 7,050.00

6 Rain harvesting system L. 11,679.50

sub total L. 73,683.50

Indirect costs provided by STRO

1 Compressed earth blocks machine L. 17,000.00

2 Supervision L. 9,825.70

3

Additional labour for extended time of construction

due to bad weather conditions and learning process

of operation of the machine L. 5,000.00




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Direct costs provided by the owners of the house

1

Credit from FUNDEVI: construction materials and

labour for doors, windows, floor and roof L. 43,051.23

2 Electrical system L. 541.29


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



13

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 theright 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.



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 designConcrete 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 hasgradually 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.

FRONT ELEVATION



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.

During the construction of this element, many women neighbours approachedthe 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.

The Eco stove

Fabricating the “ferrrocemento” water tank Close up of the metallic grid before the

reinforcing cement plaster

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 construction of the house and are

in charge of administrative issues.

Final design adaptationsThere were no significative changes in the design adapted to local conditions,

based on the original design from the Netherlands.

Time of construction1.5 months, having started on October 9, 2008. By November 17, the roof had

been built; only the placement of doors, windows and sanitary furniture wasmissing, 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

o October 16, 2008:

Wood delivered to the site of the

project

The owners of the house subscribing a credit with FUNDEVI



16.5% general advance

8 out of 9 constructed concrete poles

Ongoing construction of the concrete lower support structure

for wooden walls

o October 23, 2008:

44.5% general advance

Finished concrete poles and lower support structure for woodenwalls

Wooden floor finished

Starting of the construction of the walls

o November 6, 2008:

• 80.5% general advance

• Ongoing construction of wooden walls

o November 12, 2008:


• Wooden walls finished

Ongoing construction of walls

Constructing the lower concrete

support structure for the wooden

walls

Constructing the wooden walls



o December 18, 2008

• Rain water harvesting system finished

• Construction of the eco stove

o J

a

n

o January 9, 2009

• Doors and walls placed

• House, ecostove and rain water harvesting system in use

Finished rain water harvesting system

Construction of the ecostove

Finished house in use Locally made wooden windows



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 L. 85,150.00

2 Labour for construction of foundations, poles, floors, walls, ceiling and roof L. 22,000.00

3 Eco stove L. 7,850.004 Rain harvesting system L. 26,559.00

sub total L. 141,559.00

Indirect costs provided by STRO

1

Supervision and qualified human resources for assistance in the building of

the rain water harvesting system and the eco stove L. 5,000.00


Direct costs provided by the owners of the house

1Credit from FUNDEVI: construction materials and labour for doors,windows, electrical and sewerage systems. L. 30,954.28


TOTAL L. 177,513.28

o The total cost incurred by STRO is of L 146,559.2.

Prefabricated door made out of

compressed wood residual Inhabited house



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, socio-

environmental 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.

eco housing report english

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