Cuba: Rebuilding after the hurricanes, sustainably

Professor Fernando Martirena is from the Centre of Investigation into Structures and Materials (CIDEM) research institute at the University of Santa Clara, Cuba. He visited Australia in November 2008 to speak at a number of meetings organised by the Australian Green Development Forum. In 2007, Martirena's team won the World Habitat Award from the Building and Social Housing Foundation, an independent research organisation that promotes sustainable development and innovation in housing. Trent Hawkins caught up with Martirena, to find out how the CIDEM is helping to build houses in Cuba using sustainable building materials.
The US economic blockade forced the Cuban government to rely almost entirely on the Soviet Union for trade. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost half its oil imports and much of its food imports leading to a major food crisis.
The
economic crisis also had a major impact in areas such as housing and
construction. Eighty-six per cent of
Before
the
Martirena’s research institute, which previously focused on things like
satellite technology, redirected its work towards solving the immediate
problems thrown up by the “Special Period”, as the period following the
collapse of the
CIDEM
was able to develop a number of “eco-materials” for use in small-scale, local
production of housing. Eco-materials developed included a cement using a binder
made from the ashes of sugar cane straw, called “lime pozzalana cement”, which
only creates approximately half CO2 emissions of normal cement
production.
Also developed were light, but strong micro-concrete roofing tiles; low-energy
fired clay bricks using bio-waste products as fuel; and laminated bamboo
sheeting.
Martirena
explained that the first key element in CIDEM’s approach was in relation to
``embodied energy'’’ (the energy required in production). “In the embodied
energy, transportation plays a major role especially in
“So
what we are doing is, first, keeping transport to a minimum, by working locally
in a decentralised manner. Second, which will become increasingly important in
the near future, we are also encouraging the use of recycled waste in different
ways. So we try to recycle waste and by doing that, and this is the third point,
we try to preserve the environment.
“We
preserve the environment by reducing CO2 emissions [in production] and also by
preserving the forests... Basically our approach is bottom up. Some 15 years
ago we went into communities that needed building materials and had no other
choices. International donors, especially development agencies, were interested
what we could develop in eco-materials. So we experimented with technology, but
at same time we were building houses and
contributing to the communities.
“Rather
than creating a new bodies we rely on existing community structures and complement
them by providing our technology. We train people and they organise the
production. It's a partnership with local governments because they don’t have
money to pay us, but they have access to resources. So through the
international donor community we get the funds to pay for machinery. We set up
a workshop in the area and the local government provides all the materials we
need to produce.’’
``It
is organised in a very decentralised way. Each family has a contract with the
municipalities... Because they don't have much money, they need to get loans,
so we work with banks and we teach them how to apply for a loan. The loans have
a very low interest rate, only 2-3% a year. With this credit they can build
their houses.”
Martirena
explained that the scheme began in just four municipalities, and spread to 26
municipalities, but after the recent hurricanes which devastated parts of the
island, around half of
Martirena
also discussed the expansion of organic urban agriculture in
“Rather
than talking about housing, at the municipal level I like to talk about
development. And development integrates everything. When you give someone a
house, you have to give them a job, otherwise they will move from that place.
But you also have to secure food for them. So organic agriculture is important.
It's the same for health and education, everything is integrated. In
Hurricanes
Martirena's
research team was called in to respond to the crisis caused by hurricanes
Gustav, Ike and Paloma.
Thanks
to
Before
the storms, there was already a housing deficit of 600,000 homes. Martinera
said the Cuban government has helped as best it can, but lacks the resources
needed to properly rebuild.
“It's
really complicated because, on the one side, it has to make decisions that
bring quick results. However the quick answers to the problem aren’t
necessarily the best answers. The government has distributed 2 million square
metres of corrugated roof, the same type that was blown away during the
hurricanes. [While it is solving the immediate problems] with the next
hurricane, you will have the same problem again.’’
“In
Martirena
added that ``in the aftermath of disaster, you need urgent action. There is a
lot of chaos, people don’t know what to do. They are afraid, their houses
collapsed, the whole system has collapsed, nothing works, there is no
electricity, phones, nothing. In the eight most effected municipalities, we set
up fully operating workshops, in less than three weeks. This was a record... Now
the government has seen our scheme and now it has realised that it too can very
quickly disseminate the technology across the country.’’
Solidarity
Martirena
described how the revolution in 1959 paved the way for the cooperation and
solidarity that has enabled
“You
go to the hurricane-affected regions and witness people who have lost
everything and you see them helping others. This is a result of a society where
you try not to see others as your enemy but as your friend. It's very
beautiful... You can see this in
“The
goal and the dream of the Cuban Revolution was to create the so called new man,
as Che Guevara said. [While we may have failed to create a `new man’] we ... have
been able to create a people that has far more solidarity than any other
country in the world.’’
``Contrary to what people say, our political
system works. People in Latin America may have the right to vote, they can go
out into the streets and say `I hate oppression’, but at the same time when
they go to the hospital they have to pay, when they go to school they have to
pay and they cannot afford to do that. In
“You
cannot forget the
[A
shorter version of this article appeared in the