On the Way to Standardize Bamboo as a Qualified Building Material

Abstract

Bamboo is a grass. It is a natural versatile material with interesting properties such as low weight, hollow section internally reinforced by node walls, high elasticity modulus and high allowable tensile stress. Its contribution to CO2 capture is soundly higher that other species of trees, so, Bamboo should be considered a sustainable material if the characteristics of ecological footprint are studied and comparing it with other conventional materials used in building. This paper reviews the main properties of Bamboo in comparison to wood and outlines the Design Guidelines for Bamboo structures contained in NSR10, a Code for Seismic Buildings of Colombia. Mechanical features are discussed, as well as environmental and economic considerations.  Finally, a discussion on the steps to Standardization is included
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