Future vision building materials laboratory
BAMBOO: THE STEEL OF THE TROPICS?
Admittedly, the working title of this future project by Smiling Gecko Cambodia (SGC) is a bit unwieldy, but the idea is so good that we really want to introduce the “Advanced Bio Based Construction Materials Lab” here.
It’s about bamboo: Like Cambodia, most other developing countries with rapid population growth are located in the tropical climate zone. Bamboo grows particularly well in these regions and can be used as a building material. The idea of a laboratory for building materials, is to investigate whether and how processed bamboo can be used for the local building industry. Above all, we want to focus on the use of bamboo as a substitute for steel. Bamboo is inexpensive, grows very quickly, binds a lot of carbon, does not rust and is extremely resilient.
WHAT ELSE TALKS FOR BAMBOO
Because bamboo is a pioneer crop and can be grown on soils that are unsuitable for other crops or have been overexploited, it does not compete directly with food production. It could form the basis for an alternative construction technology that replaces expensive imported building materials and thus promotes the economic sustainability of the construction industry in developing countries. Better yet, bamboo could possibly even reverse the typical flow of materials, which is currently mainly from developed countries towards developing regions. Manufacturing high-performance bamboo products would boost the local value chain and lay the foundation for a key new industry based on this renewable resource.
Habitable zone for bamboo
THE NEXT STEP: A BUILDING MATERIALS LAB ON THE SMILING GECKO CAMPUS
SGC would like to advance the development of this innovative technical material and is cooperating with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), represented by the Chair of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Dirk E. Hebe, and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. The plan is to set up a laboratory to research alternative building materials on the Smiling Gecko Campus. The laboratory will not only be used for research but will also be able to manufacture products from these materials on an initially small scale.
