The Andrew Report: Ecobrick Constructions Six Years On

Jun 6, 2018 | Construction, Featured, News

A farm house built with ecobricks, cob and bottles in Sabangan, Mt. Province, Philippines.

In January 2018, Andrew Dieleman surveyed ecobrick constructions and social longevity after six years of spread in the Northern Philippines.  His report presents valuable insights, observations and recommendations for ecobrickers around the world.

Andrew Dieleman, a Canadian engineer and chief surveyer for the report, poses with Denver Puyongan as they inspect the ecobricks of Albago, National Highschool, in the Northern Philippines.

The use of ecobricks as building blocks has only been around for little more than a decade.  As ecobricking gains popularity and demand for ecobrick construction rises, there is need for historical and longevity data on their useage.  Thus, as the Global Ecobrick Alliance updates its Earth and Ecobrick Construction pedagogy, we have put together the Andrew Report to glean insights from the ecobrick constructions of the Northern Philippines.

In 2009, the Filipino Ecobrick movement ignited in the land of the Igorot people, in Mt. Province, Philippines. Fueled by the deeply sustainable ancestral traditions of the Igorots, one of the few unconquered indigenous peoples in Asia, ecobricking spread like wild fire.  By 2014, the Department of Education estimated that close to 2000 schools in the CAR area and over 250,000 students had learned to ecobrick.

From 2009 onwards, a small team of builders began experimenting with Ecobrick building methods inspired by Filipino and European cob techniques and igorot principles.  With limited internet access in these areas, the building techniques that arose were independent from other bottle building techniques around the world.  The applications that arose focused early on to incorporate ancestral Igorot Ayyew values (similar to the cradle-to-cradle design ethic).  These Ayyew applications have gone on to inspire the GEA earth and ecobrick building techniques.

Hundreds of school gardens were made from ecobricks and cob in the Northern Philippines as a part of the Vision Ecobrick Guide dissemination in 2013

In early 2018, Andrew Dieleman, a Canadian mechanical engineer, visited several key Ecobrick locations to survey both the physical durability of constructions and the sociological durability of the movement.  With the help of Russell Maier, one of the early pioneers of the Filipino movement, Russell and Andrew compiled what has become know as ‘The Andrew Report’.

From field notes, photos, to engineering observations, the document presents important insights from the failures and successes of the ecobrick movement in the Northern Philippines.  We hope this report will be of benefit to ecobrickers and builders around the world.


Download your copy here:
The Andrew Report
A Review of Cordilleran Ecobrick Constructions 6 years on

PDF (10.4MB)

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the creation of this document.  Andrew Dieleman for making it possible, and reviews by Irene Bakisan, Mahitosh Eguia, and Ani HImawati.  Photos from Denver Puyongan.  Logistics assistance thanks to Jake Boguilis, Denver Puyongan, Ernesto Bondad, Junesay and Rebekah Bakala.


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