Concrete Roof Tiles, puzolanic cement, earth houses, ecomaterials: EcoSur

For more than 12 years "Cuspide S.A." in Guayaquil has been producing micro concrete roofing tiles that it uses in formal upmarket urban settlements. Architect Vicente Muñoz, proprietor of the enterprise, was one of the first to use the technology in Ecuador and has built hundreds of roofs with the tiles.

Guayaquil is a prosperous growing port city and almost daily new urban settlements emerge on its outskirts. Micro concrete roofing tile have strongly entered the formal market through houses built by Cuspide that cost upwards of $70,000, very different from other places where the technology is used mainly in social housing projects. This difference is due totally to the vision and conviction of Architect Muñoz.

He first saw the tiles at an exhibition and immediately realized that it could be a solution for his constructions. He purchased tile-making equipment and installed a workshop to produce for his own upmarket dwellings. His workshop adheres to strict quality control and exudes a tidiness that is difficult to beat. When the interface plastic sheets are washed each day they are hung on a line to dry as do one's favorite clothes.

Muñoz was among the producers who met at a Latin American Micro Concrete Tile Network seminar in Riobamba, Ecuador in 1996. These representatives from about a dozen Latin American countries decided to expand the scope of network activities beyond tiles, to include other construction materials. Thus, it became EcoSouth, the Network for an Ecological and Economical Habitat.

Since then, the energetic architect has continued to build his luxury residences as well as become something of a tutor to other EcoSouth colleagues who wish to enter the roofing market beyond social housing. Architects, engineers and builders from other countries have returned from their visits to Cuspide with new ideas about how to use MCR tiles. Especially in Nicaragua have EcoSouth colleagues benefited from these study visits.

At the second international EcoMaterials Conference in 2001, the Ecuadorian entrepreneur was able to share his experiences as a successful architect and housing developer and with a wider audience.

In his own beautiful residence, MCR provides the roof over the head of this lively family of five children. What more evidence for MCR is needed!

More information about Cúspide S.A. in its web site