date-created: '2011-10-29'
date-updated: '2026-09-02'
manifest-author:
    name: Appropedia
    email: admin@appropedia.org
title: 'Dominican Republic alternative building analysis'
description: 'This is a research project in partnership between Engr308 Technology and the Environment and the barrio of La Yuca, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during Fall 2011, to compare the benefits and costs of three different types of construction. In Summer 2011, community members from La Yuca, and students from the U.S., Japan and Dominican Republic worked with architecture group Colectivo RevARK and other local partners to construct a schoolroom from plastic bottles and concrete (a style called ecoladrillo). In Fall 2011, Engr308, started to study if ecoladrillo, papercrete or conventional block is the best choice across a few different metrics, such as cost, embedded energy, environmental impact, comfort and localness of the money. See Arcata plastic bags/Raw info for Engr308 research from 2010 on plastic bags and Arcata plastic bags for their final product.'
keywords:
    - ecoladrillos
    - 'sustainable building'
    - 'green construction'
    - housing
    - papercrete
project-link: 'https://www.appropedia.org/Dominican_Republic_alternative_building_analysis'
contact:
    social:
        platform: Appropedia
version: 161
made: false
image: 'https://www.appropedia.org/w/images/3/3c/Dominican_Republic_Wall_2.jpg'
variant-of:
    title: Ecoladrillo
    web: 'https://www.appropedia.org/Ecoladrillo'
license:
    documentation: CC-BY-SA-3.0
licensor:
    affliation: 'Cal Poly Humboldt'
    contact: 'https://www.appropedia.org/'
documentation-home: 'https://www.appropedia.org/Dominican_Republic_alternative_building_analysis'
documentation-language: en