By Celine Santos and Carlo Alvarez
In the neighborhood of the SAMAHAN ng Matute at Soliman Homeowners Association Inc. (SAMASOL Homeowners Association) in Davao City, three households stand out for their unique construction. The Agot, Cubio and Tuyco residences were retrofitted with a series of targeted heat intervention measures to improve the climate adaptiveness of the household. This included replacing dilapidated walls with fiber-cement board on metal stud systems, installing ceilings to reduce heat exposure in kitchens and living areas, roof repairs and repainting and installing roof gutters and rainwater catchment basins made from recycled materials.
Davao City is in the southern part of the Philippines. Much like the whole archipelago, it experiences extreme weather conditions such as typhoons, which cause flooding and extreme heat that reaches up to 39.7°C (103.46°F).
The retrofitting process is spearheaded by the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI), and LinkBuild Inc., two organizations that, in part, make up the Philippine Alliance (PA). The PA is composed of four organizations, including the Homeless Peoples’ Federation Philippines, Inc. (HPFPI), Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc. (PACSII), TAMPEI, and LinkBuild Incorporated. The PA is an alliance of organizations that aims to capacitate Urban Poor Communities (UPC) and Informal Settler Families (ISFs) with savings, technical, and organizational assistance towards secure and context-adaptive housing in the Philippines.
Together with PACSII, TAMPEI implemented the first batch of passive cooling infrastructure retrofits across three households in SAMASOL HOA. The retrofitting process was grounded in a participatory and co-design approach. Beginning with household assessments and data gathering with applicants and SAMASOL HOA members, followed by design development and recommendations and a formal partnership agreement between TAMPEI and the association to ensure proper management of material procurement, labor hiring and construction. The approach reinforces community ownership and accountability from the project’s initial phases and capitalizes on community-led actions for climate adaptation.
A series of innovations on passive cooling and infrastructure was incorporated in this project, one of which is the Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks (ICEB), which are made from a formula of compacted soil, stone and water. In this case, the locally sourced limesoil material enables air to pass through better than traditional hollow blocks. ICEB was also used in the SAMASOL HOA retrofitting project to ease the construction process as the blocks adhere like playing blocks.
Additionally, innovations addressed thermal comfort, energy efficiency and safety simultaneously, including the use of lightweight pre-painted metal sheet roof for new space extensions, repaint of existing roofs with white reflective paint, installation of window grilles with screen net to improve ventilation while addressing security risks and mosquito concerns, solar lights and rainwater catchment installation for a nature-based resource system, demonstrating that passive cooling retrofits can address multiple vulnerabilities within a single intervention.
In an era of accelerated climate change, SAMASOL HOA stands as an example of how genuine co-creation and acceptance of innovation can lead to locally-led climate adaptation in the context of the urban poor and informal settlements.
The Philippine Alliance is currently planning capacity-building activities for SAMASOL HOA and its neighboring communities to showcase innovative, climate-resilient approaches in the context of urban poor and informal housing communities in the Philippines.
