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Success
Stories in Dissemination of Sustainable Technologies: The Philippine
Experience
Francisco L. Fernandez Email : lihok@cnms.net In the Philippines, several breakthroughs have been made in promoting the use of compressed earthblocks and micro-concrete rooftiles. These appropriate technologies are now in the mainstream of the housing industry. This did not happen overnight. The process was long and deliberate. And must continue… B uenavista Homes is located in Metro-Cebu. The project has 417 house and lot packages in a 5-hectare area. Each regular package has a lot area of 35 m2 and a floor area of 23 m2. The housing unit also contains a provision that allows the buyer to add a second floor with a maximum area of 23 m2.A unit is sold to the open market at a price of Php 180,000 (US$ 4,000). Buyers may however apply for a loan from a government housing finance institution, in which case the monthly rate is around Php 1,600 (US$ 40) for a period of 25 years.
Breakthroughs The package is affordable to the upper level of the low-income sector of the Philippines. The minimum wage per month in the Philippines is US$ 90 and the average household income is US$ 130 per month. In addition to its low price, the project uses appropriate technology, in particular compressed earthblocks and micro-concrete rooftiles. These materials are not only low cost, they also have the following advantages: n Attractive: the houses do not look "low cost" at all;n Environment friendly: both technologies use a relatively low amount of cement and other energy intensive products. The blocks are made of ordinary soil rather than sand and gravel, which have already been depleted in many areas such as Cebu;n Labor intensive: it is estimated that at least 50-60% of the total project cost went to labor (15-25% is estimated when conventional materials are used).
The project developer is Legacy Homes, Inc., a subsidiary of one of Philippines largest corporate group that also produces San Miguel Beer. The houses were constructed by Eco-Builders and Developers Inc., the business arm of Pagtambayayong Foundation. Eco-Builders is a business corporation engaged in house construction and site development. Its revenue supports the activities of Pagtambayayong Foundation, one of the bigger Philippines NGOs. Buenavista Homes has become a commercial success. Despite the economic crisis plaguing Asia, all the units were sold even before completion. Many other commercial developers have already shown their interest in using the same approach for their own projects. Project Dream Land in Metro-Manila is another example. The project involves 232 families affected by the development of a military base (Fort Bonifacio) into a "global city." These families opted for in-city relocation with a compensation fund to finance their housing project. They also contracted the Foundation Development of the Urban Poor to construct their houses using compressed earth blocks and micro concrete rooftiles. FDUP has similar projects in Kawit and Rosario, Cavite. The Julio and Florentina Ledesma Foundation Inc. has similar projects in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. Daniel Mostrales and his group in Mindanao State University have built a model house using a number of appropriate technologies and are now negotiating with the Illigan City government for the use of these technologies in its housing project. Huub Luyk in northern part of the Philippines has built a good number of houses using the micro-concrete rooftiles. There are a few more examples all over the country. Buenavista Homes and the other projects have shown that the use of appropriate technology is commercially viable. This is expected to bloom even more when the housing industry shall have recovered from its crisis.
The Process Mainstreaming these technologies did not happen overnight. It was a long and deliberate process. In the early 1980s, when we became interested in housing and appropriate technology, we took as a basic premise that the main problem with appropriate technology is dissemination. It is stuck in a vicious cycle. Since there is no knowledge about their existence, there are no takers. Since there are no takers, these options have no visibility. Ad infinitum. This vicious cycle must be broken. The value of appropriate technology must be demonstrated, not just in the laboratories but in real life. I started with my own house using our experimental compressed earth blocks. Then our office building. Some staff members of Pagtambayayong followed suit when they also constructed their homes. Around two years later, we launched a housing construction project using compressed earth blocks. We must not be contented with pilot projects. We were and continue to be obsessed with scaling-up and will not rest until we shall have changed the landscape of the housing industry in the Philippines. More-production-More users-More producers-More products.... And so on. In the Philippines the commercial producers of appropriate technology are working together. Our fellow producers of the MCR and other appropriate technologies are not our competitors. We are allies as we sell our products to a universe of potential buyers who have not even heard of our products. The success of one is in fact the success of others. Our network allowed us to jointly participate in trade exhibitions and launch information campaigns. It will also give us the opportunity to jointly produce better promotional materials at a lesser cost. Our network is also plotting out strategies on how we can position our technologies in the poverty alleviation and economic pump-priming programs of the present government in the Philippines. But underneath all of the above activities are two major factors: n For most producers, promoting appropriate technology is not just a job but a commitment. We believe in the product. We use the product. That is why we sell the product. This is a conscious paraphrasing of the biblical "Do not impose a burden that you yourself is not willing to carry."n The production of appropriate technology is combined and integrated with other activities. For instance, Pagtambayayong also organizes communities and develop housing projects, in addition to its production activities. A prominent producer of concrete roof tiles also claimed that it was able to successfully sell its products only after they organized their own housing development projects. This producer also sells rooftiles together with complete building systems.
The Challenge We have made some strides. But we do have a long way to go. The users of appropriate technology are not even a fraction of one percent of the market. This does not have to be so. Appropriate technologies are superior to conventional technologies: lower cost, more beautiful and durable, labor intensive and environment friendly. The problem is formidable but not impregnable. q
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