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 is 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 authors used multiple research
studies 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 environmental pollution with the use of bamboo in
construction industry. Although the authors used several resources to support
on the usage of bamboo, the article could further be enhanced with a
discussion of the characteristics and current applications of bamboo around the
world.
Primarily, bamboo is a very
hollow material, making it lightweight and easy to transport from place to
place, especially during construction. According to Ted (2015) video, it is
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.
In the article, "Building with Bamboo: 13 Super Sustainable
Structures," Steph (2011) displays structures such as The Green School,
and Cocoon Houses in Bali, Bamboo Forest House in Taiwan, and the Water and
Wind Café in Vietnam, to show how bamboo can be applied into various purposes.
Moreover, bamboo model-making making it easy and convenient as it provides
better visualization to construct the actual structure.
Despite being hollow, bamboo has
the tensile strength of steel and compressive strength of concrete. It has high
shock absorbing resistance thus being earthquake resistant. In the article, Goldsmith
(2011) mentions that when 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. In the
aftermath of an earthquake, structures that have used steel and cement,
which are expensive are difficult to replace. Structures made of bamboo, which
is cheaper alternative, can be more readily available to rebuild the damage.
Bamboo is aesthetically elegant,
detailed and textured. Steph (2011) also mentions that 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. Goldsmith (2011) further states that
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. Sadly, the middle
class usually shuns away from using bamboo as a home because it is associated with
poverty due to the wide usage in undeveloped countries. Bamboo structures are
made as a tourist attraction or a resort instead in more developed 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.
(590 words)
References
Distro Home. (2013). Advantages
and Disadvantages of Bamboo House Designs. Retrieved 9 August, 2013
from http://www.distrohome.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-bamboo-house-designs
Ecofarms.
(2016). Bamboo An Ecofriendly Building Material Is Sustainable, Bio
Degradable And the Future of Construction. 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/
Ghavami, K.,
and García, J. J. (2017). Building with bamboo. ICE 200. Retrieved, 30 March, 2017
from https://www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight/the-civil-engineer/march-2017/building-with-bamboo
Goldsmith, J. (2011). Bamboo:
A Great Building Material Gets Even Better. Retrieved 9 March 2011
from https://permaculturenews.org/2011/03/09/bamboo-a-great-building-material-gets-even-better/
Steph. (2011). Building with
Bamboo: 13 Super Sustainable Structures. Retrieved, 20 Jun 2011
from http://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2011/06/20/building-with-bamboo-13-super-sustainable-structures/
TED. (2015). Magical
houses, made of bamboo [Video]
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