Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
Bring on the ’green gold’
|
Have we forgotten bamboo, the wonder grass? Just what is it that makes the natural material a boon for buildings? A look by RANJANI GOVIND
|
Natural strength: The bridge that sports bamboo in good measure
Bring bamboo to the mainstream, it is green gold for buildings. Our passion and goal rests in taking the message across to the construction industry and to architects and builders. So says Vaibhav Kaley, Director, Wonder Grass.
Why is Vaibhav vociferously recommending the use of bamboo at a time when steel and hollow blocks are an accepted norm for shaping a building?
Consider this: 40 per cent of the world’s bamboo forests are in India but India ends up shredding a portion only for paper pulp, rather than for construction.
“Isn’t this sad,” rues Vaibhav. “On the one hand we have acres of good building material source available with us, and on the other, there is a rising demand for sustainable building materials. Why don’t we bridge the gap by taking up bamboo in construction?”
Treatment needed
There arises a question whether bamboo suits the construction industry at all. “It is bio-degradable but durability and longevity depend on the quality of seasoning, and some special treatment would see the mature grass go on and on for more than 40 years,” avers Vaibhav.
The company, Wonder Grass, was formed by Vaibhav Kaley, Sachin Sachar and Nachiket Kaley and is now a part of Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore under the N.S. Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurship Learning, receiving mentoring for making the endeavour a business enterprise, and creating an awareness on the characteristics of this special grass.
“My father, Vinoo Kaley, was fondly remembered as the ‘Bamboo Man.’ He envisaged the greatness of the grass for sustainable technology three decades ago, visualised it for some of the best design aesthetics in buildings and foresaw a future for it as an immense construction material.
He has also written a book ‘Venu Bharati’ wherein one can have all information on the plant anatomy and its applications.”
Bamboo was once used for scaffolding, but steel has replaced it now. Primitive methods of joinery using jute strands made the bamboo business shaky and the smooth surface wasn’t treated to get a grip on your foot.
If people wanted to retain bamboo, they could have. A good technology for joinery and some professional anti-skid methodologies were all that was required.
Slump in trade
There are two million bamboo artisans languishing in the country due to a slump in the bamboo trade. Use of bamboo would bring down the construction cost by 25 per cent, says Vaibhav. “We have to have a conventional brickwork foundation up to the plinth and the walls and roofing and some portion of the columns can be done up with woven bamboo mesh on which mud, lime or concrete plastering will take place.”
Wonder Grass offers products, services and technology for making the bamboo enterprise economically viable
Call 98868 69173/26589975; contact@wondergrass.in
(Watch out for more information on bamboo as a construction material in our next edition)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
|
