G8-2012 Structural Bamboo Products

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project develops green construction materials and building codes for bamboo. China, India and Brazil haverapidly expanding economies with increasing demand for building materials. The production of conventionalconstruction materials such as steel and concrete is energy intensive and unsustainable: concrete alone accounts for5% of global CO2 emissions. Bamboo is a fast growing, renewable building material widely cultivated in thesecountries but not utilized to its full potential in modern construction. Its mechanical properties are similar to woodbut it produces up to six times as much mass per hectare as conventional timber plantations. Structural bambooproducts (SBP), similar to plywood, oriented strand board, or glue-laminated wood products, therefore haveenormous potential to partially replace the use of more energy intensive materials in rapidly developing countries.Widespread use of SBP is hampered by limited knowledge of their manufacture, structural and thermal behavior,and lack of appropriate building codes. The goal of this project is to develop modern structural building materialsfrom renewable bamboo in order to place growth in rapidly developing countries onto a more sustainable path.Low-carbon solutions can also help to meet developed countries' own obligations under schemes like the UK'sCarbon Reduction Commitment.