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The bamboocrete multipurpose panel contains a Gigantochloa Scortechinii bamboo, also known as Buluh Semantan in Malaysia, it act as reinforcement in structural

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Housing affordability and provision of an adequate shelter are the challenges faced by the government in the developing countries. When the phenomenal rise in population, it resulted in shortage of dwelling units of housing especially for the low and middle income group earner. This paper aims to highlight the challenges in providing affordable houses for all. The literature analysis conducted highlighted the challenges which include high cost of construction materials and technologies, constraints on available land and high land cost, large population at the urban centers and financial constraints. The paper identifies the potential technology as a solution to deliver an affordable housing system. The finding shows that there were affordable technologies which can contribute to low cost housing which are interlocking and compressed earth block, thermal insulating technology, lightweight steel framing and bamboo reinforced wall panel. As a conclusion, the planning authorities and developers should monitor and solve the issues and challenges in providing affordable house. Using the locally available raw materials will help to reduce the construction cost. The affordable house technology may reduce the building construction costs and plays the vital role in increasing the house ownership.

This study investigated the economic comparison between bamboo reinforced concrete called Bamboocrete with the conventional reinforced concrete panel. Materials contribute significantly to the construction cost. Bamboo can be an alternative to replace steel bars in typical reinforced concrete as it is low in cost and sustainable material. To optimize the benefit, this study used whole solid bamboo as the reinforcement as well as to reduce amount of concrete in the panel, thus reducing the panel weight. Furthermore, the concrete used is lightweight concrete by partially replaced coarse aggregate with Palm Kernel Shell (PKS). The Bamboocrete panel at 1 500 mm height, 300 mm width, and 125 mm thick can sustain axial load of more than 100 KN (10 ton), and flexural bending load between 32.51 to 35.20 kN. Bamboocrete panel contribute towards economical building structures when it is 14% cheaper than steel reinforced concrete. Furthermore, bamboocrete panel is 23% lighter.