Articles
Four new EcoMaterials made with bambo
Under the direction of Arq. Jorge Morán, a group of experts from the Faculty of Architecture from the Catholic University of Guayaquil, UCSG, in Ecuador, achieved a prize from the SENESCYT* to produce construction materiales from the Ecuadorian Bamboo and other EcoMaterials like natural clay color paints and fire-resistant natural fibers, all with local materials
Passionate by the "Caña Guadua" (Guadua anguistifolia Kunth), Arq. Moran has bring his passion to reality in this EcoMaterials project. Along with a multi-discplinary team that includes chemichal engineers, architects, industrial engineers and comercial engineers, have developed four compressed bamboo wood boards. Under the names Ecu-Bam, Plas-Bam, Ester-Bam y Trip-Bam, these compressed bamboo wood boards have different behavior to mechanical strength, as well as different applications
Besides the UCSG team, the project has asessment from teachers of the Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) and private entrepreneurship consultants. The National Institute for the Bamboo and Ratan, INBAR, along with teachers and researchers from various latinamerican universties have met the project and made a commitment to collaborate. The financing of the project comes from the Ecuadorian government, 90%, through the SENESCYT; the 10% is financed by the UCSG.
Government organization, private enterprises, universities and foreign investors have shown interest in the results of the project, mainly because its capacity to lower the cost of housing, lower the pressure over the wood species, capture of CO2 and lower the effects of climate change
In his own word, Arq. Moran says "We see the future of the project with optimism. Two new EcoMaterials are being produced: an appropriate construcvite system and the construction of house prototypes. Besides, the pilot factory is fully equiped and is working now with a great future.
Jorge Morán U. is architect, university teacher, author of several articles about alternative materials, specially about bamboo. He has over a dozen of publications about several subjects and actually runs the project about EcoMaterials, looking for design new construction materials.
*SENESCYT: Ecuador's National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science and Technology - www.senescyt.gob.ec
