Reader's Response (Draft #1) - revised (5.2.18)

In the article, 'Building with bamboo,' Ghavami and Garcia (2017) stated that bamboo can be safely substituted for conventional construction materials such as steel and cement, which are polluting and "high-energy-demanding" materials. There are enough scientific information to increase the use of bamboo for construction industries posited from research and development since 1970s. Moreover, an issue of ICE Structures and Buildings has presented papers on improving the mechanical characterization and standardization of the bamboo material. The author used multiple researches to support using bamboo culms to replace wood, concrete and steel. Apart from its environmental benefits, bamboo also creates economic incentives for farmers to develop bamboo plantations and use the bamboo for their daily activities. The authors implied that energy saving and conservation of our earth limited resources can reduce in environmental pollution with the use of bamboo in construction industry. Although the authors based on several resources to support on the usage of bamboo, they did not mention on how bamboo is being applied currently around the world.

Bamboo has the tensile strength of steel and compressive strength of concrete. They have high shock absorbing resistant thus being earthquake resistant. A 6.2 earthquake that hit Columbia in 1999, 70% of newly built concrete and brick buildings collapsed but all of the older village buildings made of bamboo stood strong and unaffected by the earthquake. Bamboo is a cheaper and readily available, which is a better alternative rather than investing loads of money on steel and cement which are expensive to rebuild in the aftermath of an earthquake, 

Bamboo is a very hollow material, making them lightweight and easy to transport from place to place, especially during construction. They are very flexible to build into complex shapes and easy to replicate as a blue-print using the same material that will be used on the actual structure. Structures such as The Green School, and Cocoon Houses in Bali, Bamboo Forest house in Taiwan, and the Water and Wind café in Vietnam, are examples of how bamboo can be applied into various purposes. Moreover, bamboo model-making makes it easier and convenient as they provide better visualization that will be applicable to construct the actual structure.

Bamboo is aesthetically elegant, detailed and textured. Every bamboo grows in different ways, thus making every structure unique. Bamboo structures minimize the use of air conditioning as they are cool and does not absorb heat, makes air easily ventilated through bamboo gaps. Architects and designers such as Colombians Simz and Marcelo Villegas, German Joerg Stamm, Bobby Manosa from the Phillipines and Jorge Moran in Ecuador are demonstrating to the local communities and world that even the wealthy are selecting bamboo as an option for their houses and buildings. The middle class usually shun away from using bamboo as they are associated with poverty due to the wide usage in undeveloped countries. Additionally, bamboo structures are usually made as a tourist attraction or a resort in many countries, which is why bamboo are in such low demand to be built as a home instead. 

Although the authors highlighted the key points of bamboo as a substitution for construction, they were not able to mention about the properties of bamboo and refer to the current application of bamboo around the world. Bamboo has not only good mechanical properties, they have aesthetic properties that is a plus point to replace steel and cement.

(563 words)

References

TED. (2015). Magical houses, made of bamboo [Video]
Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/elora_hardy_magical_houses_made_of_bamboo/details

Building with bamboo. (2017). Ice. Retrieved, 30 March, 2017 from https://www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight/the-civil-engineer/march-2017/building-with-bamboo

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bamboo House Designs. (2013). Distro Home. Retrieved 9 August, 2013 from http://www.distrohome.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-bamboo-house-designs

Bamboo An Ecofriendly Building Material Is Sustainable, Bio Degradable And the Future of Construction. (2016). Ecofarms. Retrieved, 21 July 2016 from http://www.ecofarms.co.in/blog/bamboo-an-ecofriendly-building-material-is-sustainable-bio-degradable-and-the-future-of-construction/

Building with Bamboo: 13 Super Sustainable Structures. (2011). Momtastic. Retrieved, 20 Jun 2011 from http://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2011/06/20/building-with-bamboo-13-super-sustainable-structures/

Bamboo: A Great Building Material Gets Even Better. (2011). Permaculture. Retrieved 9 March 2011 from https://permaculturenews.org/2011/03/09/bamboo-a-great-building-material-gets-even-better/