Industrial or Traditional Bamboo Construction? Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Bamboo-Based Buildings

Abstract

The past five decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth in population. This has led to an ever-growing housing demand. It has been proposed that the use of bio-based materials, and specifically bamboo, can help alleviate the housing demand in a sustainable manner. The present paper aims to assess the environmental impact caused by using four different construction materials (bamboo, brick, concrete hollow block, and engineered bamboo) in buildings. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to measure the environmental impact of the different construction materials in the construction of single and multi-storey buildings. The LCA considered the extraction, production, transport, and use of the construction materials. The IPCC2013 evaluation method from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC2013 was used for the calculations of CO2 emissions. The assessment was geographically located in Colombia, South America, and estimates the transport distances of the construction materials. The results show that transportation and reinforcing materials significantly contribute to the environmental impact, whereas the engineered bamboo construction system has the lowest environmental impact. The adoption of bamboo-based construction systems has a significant potential to support the regenerative development of regions where they could be used and might lead to long-lasting improvements to economies, environments, and livelihoods.

Effect of disodium octaborate tetrahydrate on the mechanical properties of Dendrocalamus asper bamboo treated by vacuum/pressure method

“…Life cycle assessment studies of bamboo-based construction materials clearly showed the potential of bamboo for use in the construction sector [7][8][9][10]. In these studies, transportation is an important issue to a product such as bamboo culm which has a high volume per mass.…”

Deciding on Bamboo or Steel as a Building Material in Rural China: The Area X Project

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Nonuniform Woven Solar Shading Screens: Shading, Mechanical, and Daylighting Performance

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