Mabini limers' hollow blocks: An alternative construction material
The three basic needs of man are food, clothing and shelter. The need for shelter is critical. There are three needs we have with regard to shelter which are: protection, comfort and convenience. Man needs protection from storm, cold, heat and bad elements. He needs a house to provide him and his family a place to rest, comfort and privacy. It is an important requirement in building a home. Shelter basically involves construction, hence its importance in the development of man.
In the Philippines, some houses are designed with adequate space and furnishings for convenient households operation, comfort, provisions for childcare, and creation. Unfortunately, however, inadequacy of dwellings is prevalent because of poverty. Housing conditions are still below standard condition especially in the depressed barrios and areas.
A house is a structure where man lives. It includes the buildings, the furnishings and the neighborhood. It may be made of materials like nipa, bamboo, wood, cement and galvanized iron.
As observed, there are thousands of families housed in shanties and other forms of temporary shelter outside their homes. One principal reason for this is the affordability of the cost of materials used in construction.
The situation therefore, prompted the Mabini Limers and Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative, Brgy. Mabini, Buenavista, Guimaras to conceptualize a new product that could be used as a construction material in building a house that is strong and permanent in structure and is affordable for the poor. This product can be an effective substitute for sand-made hollow blocks, the basic construction materials used in building a house today.
The increased cost of construction materials has posed a problem to the growing needs of some builders in the country today. To alleviate the situation and to accelerate rural development programs being undertaken by the government, a concerted effort to evolve a common program of developing low-cost indigenous materials was exerted.
Due to the price increase of building materials today like cement which is used as a primary binder in making of hollow blocks and with the scarcity of sources of cement being sold to far-flung areas, this made the cement more expensive and could hamper the construction of low-cost housing in the area.
Lime is an important ingredient for the manufacture of cement. As building material, lime is usually used as mortar, plastering, and white washing. With these characteristics of lime, the Mabini Limers and Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative find-out the potentials of lime waste materials as aggregates and cement as binder in hollow block making.
Compared to other construction materials, hollow block can be manufactured anywhere provided that lime waste materials are available. Since large production of lime is produced daily, productions of manually-made hollow blocks can be relatively cheaper and without expense. Imported aggregates like sand and gravel may cost relatively higher than the existing price of construction materials.
Traditional concrete hollow block can be manufactured with sand-cement as materials. But there are indigenous raw materials which are used as additive in making of another locally-made concrete hollow block. In this juncture, hydrated lime can be used as additive while lime-waste materials can also be used as aggregates in making of hollow blocks. They can be useful as alternative construction materials which can be produced in the locality.
The abundance of limestones in the Province of Guimaras has challenged the Mabini Limers and Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative initiative to utilize them into useful construction materials.
(The author is Assistant to the Principal of Mandurriao Elementary School, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.)