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Identification of barriers, benefits and opportunities of using bamboo materials for structural purposes

Ezra Kassa Hailemariam (Department of Construction Technology and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Leule Mebratie Hailemariam (Department of Construction Technology and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Ermias Adane Amede (Department of Construction Technology and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Denamo Addissie Nuramo (Department of Construction Technology and Management, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

ISSN: 0969-9988

Article publication date: 14 April 2022

Issue publication date: 15 August 2023

446

Abstract

Purpose

Bamboo is still a traditional material that requires additional development before it can be considered as a modern and reliable alternative to steel, wood, and concrete. When compared to the huge volumes of information available on timber and concrete, bamboo has a little quantity of information. When it comes to estimating bamboo structures, there are not many options. As a result, pinpointing the key qualities and events that aid or impede bamboo's integration into the construction sector is vital.

Design/methodology/approach

Factor analysis (FA) was used for summarizing and reducing data to significant ones in identifying barriers, benefits and potentials of using bamboo materials for construction. In this method, small number of factors was aimed at to explain most of the variances observed in a much larger number of variables. The goal was to identify not-directly-observable barriers and opportunities based on a larger set of observable or measurable indicators identified from literature. It attempted to identify underlying challenges and potentials that lay the patterns of bamboo material usage in the construction sector.

Findings

From the results of FA, six specific components with loadings greater than 0.5 were kept for both the barrier and the advantages of using bamboo Lack of awareness on bamboo material, Unorganized supply chain, Exclusion from standards, Outperformance of industrial products, Lack of innovation and institutional support and Bamboo's mechanistic limitation was considered to be the root causes of all barriers. On the other end, structural suitability of bamboo, viable timber alternative, meeting sustainability's demand, attractive economic model, cost effective material, positive social implications were labeled as benefits of bamboo. Finally, major recommendation regarding research, facility, institutionalizing and resource management were forwarded.

Originality/value

Ethiopia is a major bamboo producer in Africa. The bamboo sector, on the other hand, remains a part of the undeveloped and informal rural economy, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Despite technological advancements, bamboo is not commonly used in construction. As a result, using bamboo as a building material is frowned upon. In order to take effective action to accommodate bamboo as an alternative building material, significant challenges, benefits, and potential of the material must be stated with this purpose in mind.

Keywords

Citation

Hailemariam, E.K., Hailemariam, L.M., Amede, E.A. and Nuramo, D.A. (2023), "Identification of barriers, benefits and opportunities of using bamboo materials for structural purposes", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 30 No. 7, pp. 2716-2738. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-11-2021-0996

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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