Engineering bamboo – a green economic alternative Part1
Hebel, Dirk E., Felix Heisel, Alireza Javadian, Mateusz Wielopolski, Simon Lee, Philipp Müller, Karsten Schlesier (2016). Engineering bamboo – a green economic alternative Part 1, in: a+u, Feature: big and small, 2016:05, Japan Architecture and Urbanism, Tokyo, Japan
Essay Series: Engineering bamboo – a green economic alternative Part 1 Professorship of Architecture and Construction Dirk E. Hebel: Steel-reinforced concrete is the most common building material in the world, and developing countries use close to 90 per cent of the cement and 80 per cent of the steel consumed by the global construction sector. However, very few developing countries have the ability or resources to produce their own steel or cement, forcing them into an exploitative import-relationship with the developed world. Out of 54 African nations, for instance, only two are producing steel. The other 52 countries all compete in the global marketplace for this ever-more-expensive, seemingly irreplaceable material.