| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/M017702/1 |
| Title: |
BIM BAMBOO |
| Principal Investigator: |
Lorenzo, Dr R |
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| Department: |
Civil Environmental and Geomatic Eng |
| Organisation: |
UCL |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research - NR1 |
| Starts: |
02 March 2015 |
Ends: |
29 September 2017 |
Value (£): |
246,073
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Civil Engineering Materials |
Construction Ops & Management |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Two hundred years of intensive industrialisation in the Global North have allowed a mere 15% of the global population to reach a "Very High Human Development Index" using four times the amount of energy currently consumed by 4 billion people living in countries categorised as Emerging Economies. Currently, steel, cement and aluminium production accounts for almost 20% of all global industrial carbon emissions and surprisingly, bamboo, an abundant, sustainable composite structural hollow section, endemic to all Emergent Economies, has been largely ignored and stigmatised as a temporary, non-engineered, low-quality alternative to steel and concrete. Energy-intensive processes to produce standardised bamboo beams and panels have been recently suggested in line with the current structural design philosophy developed in the last century. However, high quality, sustainable and resilient bamboo structures suitable for the 21st century require a design approach developed for, and not forced upon, a natural structural element like bamboo culms.
The main objective of this research is to develop a Building Information Modelling (BIM) framework for whole bamboo culms to support a new high-tech, low-energy design approach based on managing, as opposed to forcibly eliminating, the inherent variability of a natural structural element. This framework will incorporate the related principles of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and will rely on modern 3D scanning and digital fabrication technologies.
A technological framework that supports expressive, high-quality designs incorporating a rational use of bamboo culms will help to increase their acceptance as a sustainable and attractive construction material among 4.5 billion people living in Emergent Economies and Least Developed Countries.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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