Proposal

Summary Statement of Proposed Project

Research the possibility to use bamboo in house construction in Kamloops B.C.

Purpose

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world and it is believed to be the new material in building industry in western countries. (De Flander & Rovers, 2009) However, as bamboo is not a local plant in Canada, few people use bamboo. The purpose of this project is according to research the feasibility of use bamboo in house construction in Kamloops to spread and generalize the use of bamboo in building industry in Canada. Thus, improve the sustainability of the environment. Along with the research, I will learn how people select building materials and the requirement of building materials, as well as familiarize myself with the bamboo material industry.

Goals and Objectives of the Project

The goal is through researching and comparing bamboo with other building materials (such as timber, steel, and concrete) in building industry incorporating Kamloops’ local conditions to find possible problems to implement bamboo as a building material and then find ways to solve these problems. For example, Kamloops is a semi-arid place and the lowest temperature in winter can be as low as –30 ℃ (Environment Canada, 2010), while bamboo is mainly a tropical plant. Can bamboo materials endure the rigid climate? If no, is there any way to protect bamboo from the influence of the climate?

Methodology and analytical approach

I plan to design a house by using as many bamboo products as possible in Kamloops, BC. As the design progressing, I may come cross lots of problems. I can also

-Consult a local architect and come up a list of reasons why they do not use bamboo as building material and if they have any way to solve these problems.

-Refer to a structure engineer, as BC Building Code does not contain anything about bamboo products, and the properties to be needed to use bamboo products as structure members.

-Contact with bamboo products manufactures if their products meet the requirements and if they can solve these problems.

-Ask the bamboo dealer, about the price of these products.

-Talk with some clients, if they like the bamboo products to be part of their house and will accept the price of products.

Previous studies or related information

There are lots of studies about the advantages of using bamboo as a new sustainable building material. However, there is few people implement bamboo as a building material in Canada. Except bamboo is not a local product, there may be some other reasons why people do not choose bamboo. According to design a residential house, I will come across these problems and may find the way to solve these problems.

Plans for dissemination of work

I will use blog to post my research and progress. And share my idea with people.