Bamboo spells promise for the housing sector
An agency under the Department of Science and Technology is working on a low-cost do-it-yourself (DIY) bamboo shelter intended to make housing more accessible to the public, particularly the poor.
The DIY bamboo shelter, designed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), is envisioned as a ready-to-assemble house. Using simple tools, it is intended to be built within 1-2 days following an instruction manual.
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| The service life of the DIY bamboo shelter is being tested at FPRDI. |
“Bamboo is a preferred substitute for timber due to its renewability and widespread availability. It is also cheaper than wood and has strength properties comparable to mild steel, making it fit for structural applications,” explained Dr. Rico J. Cabangon, Chief of FPRDI's Engineered Products and Development Section.
The prototype bamboo house constructed at the FPRDI grounds used the species Bolo (Gigantochloa levis (Blanco) Merr.) that is abundant in Laguna, Quezon, Bicol, Iloilo and Leyte. The shelter measures 24 square meters and costs roughly Php 4,000 per square meter. “This is within the cost of houses built by groups such as Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity, and lower than government socialized houses pegged at around Php 6,000 to 7,500 per square meter,” Cabangon stressed. He also mentioned that the design of the bamboo house can be customized depending on the client’s needs.
Shortfall
According to the Philippine Development Plan of 2011-2016, the country’s housing needs are estimated to reach 5.8 million units by 2016.
“The demand to address the backlog becomes all the more challenging with the soaring cost of building shelters and the logging moratorium on the country’s natural and residual forests,” said FPRDI Director Romulo T. Aggangan. “These situations make the use of bamboo as a construction material even more relevant.”
Aside from the DIY bamboo shelter, the Institute also developed bamboo processing equipment which include the veneer lathe, flattening machine, moisture meter, and furnace-type dryer. ### (Apple Jean C. Martin, 23 January 2014)
