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

Cecat, the "Center for Construction and Tropical Architecture at the Technical University of Havana learned about MicroConcrete Roofing (MCR) technology early in 1991. In the midst of the crisis called the special period, it became clear that Cuba would opt for MCR, as national authorities concerned with construction and housing were pleased to encounter a viable roofing alternative.

by Kurt Rhyner

 High ranking visitors to a newly started production unit in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) congratulated the manager of the local EcoSur partner for an impressive start into a new project which aims to form micro-enterprises to produce construction materials for the country's reconstruction. Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and actual administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) expressed her satisfaction at the high quality of walling and roofing elements produced by the women and men of the workshop in a neighborhood badly damaged by the 2010 earthquake.

At the beginning, the toilet bowl used by the Dry Toilet was very simple, without the water trap. The solids and liquids felt directly to the drying buckets under the surface. In 2010, a Urine Diverting Toilet Bowl was built and this new toilet bowl transformed the Dry Toilet in an UDDT: Urine Diverting Dry Toilet.
Estuardo Quispillo, technician and instructor from EcoSur Ecuador went to Haiti to train the staff in UDDTs building using a very practical fiber glass mould.

There are different means to be used for different situations, target groups and types of knowledge. In this realm EcoSur includes the face-to-face contacts of onsite visits, courses and seminars, as well as published material and internet connections. In the southern hemisphere direct personal contact has been the predominant means of communication, but requires tremendous investments of time, energy and resources. At one point in the process of sharing knowledge it is essential, but other or accompanying means must be sought.

Excerpt from an article by Kathryn Pozak in Basin News back in June 2003