Teaching students about sustainable construction dealing with bamboo building and trial investigations on mechanical properties of the bamboo culms

In recent years the demand for sustainable materials in all technical fields has become increasingly urgent. This trend also applies to the building industry, which is striving for climate-friendly construction. Hence, the renewable and fast-growing material bamboo is a very promising solution. To bring bamboo closer to a potential application, a key interest is to teach the next generation of architects and civil engineers about the material, its properties and its behavior. Students from the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Germany, were invited to join lectures teaching them from conceptualization to the completion of a building made of bamboo. The aim was to create awareness and familiarity with this sustainable material for subsequent applications. Additionally, the students were given the chance to work with bamboo practically. For several months, trial investigations of the basic mechanical properties of bamboo culms were undertaken with the students. The experimental research included measurement of the moisture content, compression tests, and fractography. Knowledge about material properties and their determination should be brought to the students who are mostly unfamiliar with material testing. Based on the values measured during mechanical testing, the students should be able to do exemplary load-bearing calculations for the bamboo material.