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Comparison of Bamboo and Conventional Building Materials for Low-cost

Classroom Construction in Isarun, Nigeria

Conference Paper · September 2015

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COMPARISON OF BAMBOO AND CONVENTIONAL BUILDING
MATERIALS FOR LOW-COST CLASSROOM CONSTRUCTION IN
ISARUN, NIGERIA

O. S. Adetunji1, D. T. Moyanga2 and A. O. Bayegun2

1
Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
2
Department of Quantity Surveying, Federal University of Technology, Akure,
Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The attendant high cost of construction; using conventional building materials has resulted in
inadequate classroom provisions in public schools located in rural areas in Nigeria. This study
compares bamboo and conventional building materials for low-cost classroom construction in
Isarun, Nigeria. The study employs literature review and case study of historical data as its
research methods. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Finding reveals that
the cost of constructing a classroom block using conventional materials is N2.52 Million while the
cost of classroom block constructed with bamboo is N1.03 Million. The cost of classroom block
using conventional material can produce two classroom blocks made of bamboo materials, and
that in rural areas where there is abundant accessibility to bamboo, the classroom constructed with
bamboo has more cost benefit as aligned with the culture of the host community. This study
recommends that the state governments should endeavour to provide more low-cost and eco-
friendly classroom blocks in rural areas with the use of bamboo after a thorough application of
suitable preservative.

Keywords: Bamboo, Conventional Materials, Cost Comparison, Schools, Isarun Village.

INTRODUCTION

School buildings, either in rural or urban areas,are constructed to provide healthy

and comfortable environments for all activities needed to be carried out for
learning. Thereforeit must accommodate the activities it is built for and provide
floor space, room volume, shelter, light and other amenities for working, living
and learning though rural areas in Nigeria have serious problems of educational
infrastructure (Ahmed, 2003; Akindele, 2012). The states often have limited
finances to afford proper school facilities for its people, especially in rural areas.
Due to this problem, many of the people are deprived of the basic needs of
education whilst school facilities are in poor condition especially in the rural areas.
Moreover, school buildings in many rural or disadvantageous areas are not only in
improper conditionbut are also inadequate in number. Many of the rural areas in
Ondo state has between 1 and 3 schools - primary and secondary schools inclusive
(Department of Research and Statics, 2010).

State governments are making frantic effort in achieving the millennium

development goal of universal access to basic education by 2015 but high cost of
construction schools is one of the problems militating against the attainment of the

807
goal especially in the rural areas (Moja, 2000). The strategy of the government is
to ensure that schools are located within walking distance to farm houses where the
rural students dwell. One of the main purposes of Furthermore, school buildings
must supply healthy and comfortable indoor climate to the people using it. In
addition, it should not cause harm to its occupants or the environment and must,
for example, be structurally stable and fire safe. Ekundayo (2012) revealed many
of the school physical facilities in Nigeria are not friendly to students learning and
requires high cost of construction which has resulted in years of neglect of the
school buildings by the governments. Many of the classrooms, laboratories,
libraries, playing grounds are in a terrible state of unfriendliness with the
students.According to Akindele (2012), the state governments has struggled to
match up development and expansion of schools physical infrastructure with the
rate at which school population is increasing. The governments at state levels have
resulted into refurbishing the existing classroom blocks at higher cost compared to
building new classroom blocks with low-cost materials. Also, Ekundayo (2012)
opined that a nation that lacks a sound educational culture and philosophy stands
the risk of decay whereas a nation that sees to the development of its education is
bound to achieve great success.This study therefore compares the cost implications
of bamboo and conventional building materials and bamboo for low-cost
classroom blocks construction in Nigeria.

Study Area

In Fig. 1 and 2, Isarun (Cave of Ashes) is located in the heart of the thick rain
forest of the sleepy village of Ifedore local government area of Ondo State, Nigeria
with average population of 39,463 (Nile Guide, 2015). The village, endowed with
bamboo forest that covers 35% of her land, is situated in the lowland rainforest belt
between latitude of 7.4043 and longitude of 5.0671 (Falling Rain Genomics,
2010). Currently, the village has two public primary schools and one public
secondary school. The existing schools are constructed with longspan aluminium
roofing sheets for the roof, sandcrete blocks for the walls, reinforced concrete for
the columns, beams and lintels, concrete for the floor slab and plastic ceiling
boards for the ceiling.

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Fig. 1: Map of Ifedore Local Government (insert: map of Ondo state)

Source: Olamiju and Olujimi (2011)

Figure 2 Map of Isarun village

Source: Google earth (2013)

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Bamboo

Species:

Few numbers of bamboo species have been tested so far for their mechanical and
physical properties, many species could be useful for the construction purpose.
Bamboo for Sustainable Development (1998) and Chung, Chan and Ye (2002)
revealed that the following bamboo species; Dendrocalamus strictus Bambusa
nutuns, Bambusa vulgaris, Guaduaaungustifoila, Phyllostachys pubescens have
commonly been used for building construction in many bamboo building projects.
Besides the aforementioned species, other species having required dimensions
(height, diameter and culm thickness) with sound appearance could be useful for
construction purpose (Janssen, 2000). Local experiences and knowledge on
application and durability of particular species of bamboo are highly useful in
deciding the species.

Anatomical Structure:

Bamboo culm is made up of diaphragms, rings, nodes, internodes, culm wall and
cavities (González et al., 2001; Gutierrez, 2000). The microstructure is made up of
a dense culm wall, about 0.25mm thick, which is rich in silica. Under the culm
wall (towards the interior of the culm) are cellulose fibres together with vessels;
the density of these fibres decreasing towards the interior of the culm (as in Fig. 3).
Cellulose fibres act as reinforcement, similar to glass fibre in fibre-reinforced
plastic (Jayanetti &Follet, 1998; Mardjono, 2000).

Figure 2 Section through bamboo culm

Source: Jayanetti and Follet, 1998; Mardjono, 2000

These fibres are concentrated near the outside of the hollow bamboo and the
density of the fibres is akin to a steel tube with high tensile steel on the outside of
the wall and normal mild steel on the inside of the wall. The stiffness that this
distribution pattern creates is 10% more than what a similar tube with a more even
fibre distribution pattern would give (Janssen, 2000). The vessels (which are

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conduits for transportation of liquid for the bamboo) are surrounded by
―parenchyma‖ which is a matrix in which the fibres are embedded (like concrete
between steel reinforcement). A bamboo culm has about 40% fibres, 10% vessels
and 50% parenchyma. A cross-sectional structure of bamboo culm does not show
‗rays‘ as in wood. Rays are for the transportation and storage of food, mostly
sugar, and, they weaken the wood material. Thus, bamboo is stronger than wood,
especially in shear (Janssen, 2000).

Properties of Bamboo:

Janssen (1991), Arce-Villalobos (1993) and Chung and Siu (2002) revealed the
fast growing nature of bamboo to provide sustainable supply to meet the demands
of the building industry and many positive aspects of modern engineering
materials found in bamboo has renewed interest of engineers and architects to use
bamboo as an engineering material. According to Mardjono (2000) and Moran
(2003), advantages of bamboo in building construction are:

i. High tensile strength compared to that of mild steel – can be used for
reinforcement in place of mild steel
ii. High strength to weight ratio and high specific load bearing capacity
iii. Requires less energy for production compared to material like steel,
plastics, aluminium etc.
iv. Physical-mechanical properties of bamboo which grows to maturity in 4 to
5 years compares favourably with that of hardwood which requires 40 to 50
years to attain maturity
v. Service life of bamboo can be enhanced considerably by providing suitable
preservative treatment.
vi. Studies as in China, India has further established its versatility to be
converted into panel and composite material possessing enhanced strength
properties suitable for structural applications.
vii. Like wood bamboo also possesses high residual strength to absorb shocks
and impacts–this makes it highly suitable material for construction of
houses to resist seismic and high wind forces.
viii. Bamboo along with fast grown plantation species is very efficient in
sequestering carbon and contributes to the reduction of greenhouse effect.
Bamboo Age Determination for Construction Purpose:

Generally 3 to 6 years old bamboo, which has not bloomed yet, is suitable for the
construction purpose. The age determination of sympodial bamboo in natural stand
is not easy. However, there are few general rules that might help to estimate the
age of bamboo.

i. For sympodial bamboo, outermost bamboos are generally younger one (in
natural stand). So inner the position of the culm, the older it is.
ii. If the colour of the trunk changes from clear and shiny green to gray
greenish, and if the traditional white bands of each knot have almost

811
 disappeared and are replaced by hardly perceptible gray bands, then the
bamboo shows clearly evidence of its maturity (Moran, 2003).
iii. Older bamboo turns its colour into yellow.
iv. When you struck a bamboo with a tool, the sound of older bamboo is louder
than that of younger one.
v. Use your judgement from experiences.

Sizes of Bamboo:

Janssen (2000) revealed that:

i. For columns and trusses, the diameter of the bamboo should be at least 75
mm with at least 10-mm wall thickness. The thicker the wall, the higher the
compression strength it possesses.
ii. For strips, wall thickness of 10mm or less is fine.

Conventional Materials

The construction Industry consumes more natural resources than any other
industry and still there is scarcity of natural resources to be used for construction.
Kumar, Ramanuja and Sastry (1998) defined conventional materials as materials
that have been processed from natural resources. For example, concrete is made of
aggregate and cement which are all processed from natural resources. According to
Strzov and Herbertson (2006) and Bakhoum (2011), conventional building
materials are binders, aggregateand structural components such as steel and
aluminium. In ensuring sufficient availability of building materials to meet up with
the demand of the building industry, the technology needed for processing of
natural resources must be tested, proved and widely known at the local level. In
addition, if these technologies which have low import input and could be operated
and maintained with available skills are developed, then the bottlenecks of
prohibitive costs and irregular supply can be overcome over time (Bala &Zubairu,
1993). The examples of conventional building materials are masonry materials
such as stones, processed timber and wood products, ceramic materials and
products, inorganic binders, glass and high insulating materials.

RESEARCH METHODS, RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The study employs literature review and case study of historical data approach.
Literature review was used to elicit information on the suitability and availability
of bamboo as alternative building materials. Historical data on the cost of
classroom blocks constructed with conventional building materials in Isarun was
obtained from the Ministry of Education of the Ondo State government. Also, a
prototype of the classroom blocks constructed of bamboo was designed and the
cost of construction determined accordingly. Thereafter, a cost analysis was
carried out for foundation, concrete floor slab, superstructure wall, ceiling, doors,
windows and roof in the two construction and the cost of construction compared.
The designs are shown in figures 3-6.

812
 Figure 3 Floor plan of classroom block built with conventional building material
Source: Authors‘ Fieldstudy (2015)

The classroom block has three units of 6m x 6m classrooms arranged at on side of

the corridor (See Fig. 3). Each of the classrooms is designed to accommodate 30
pupils per time with the class teacher and fully equipped with windows for
ventilation and lighting and doors for access. The building offers the pupils and
teachers adequate functional and circulation spaces necessary to perform all
necessary activities without adverse impact on the structural stability of the
buildings. The walls were constructed with 450mm x 225mm x 150mm and
450mm x 225mm x 225 mm sandcrete blockwall laid in stretcher bond and
plastered while the concrete floor slab is made to be 150mm thick (as in Fig. 4).
Also, the columns and beams are made of 225mm square reinforced concrete. The
windows are 1.5m in width and 1.2m in height made of steel plate casements while
the doors are timber single swing in timber frames. The roof trusses are made of
timber while the covering is 0.55mm gauge longspan aluminium roofing sheets.

Figure 4 Transverse section of classroom block built with convertional material

Source: Authors‘ Survey (2015)

813
 Figure 5 Floor plan of classroom block built with bamboo
Source: Authors‘ Survey (2015)

Figure 5 illustrates the use of local bamboo in building in view to compare its cost
with an existing prototype of 3-unit classroom block built with convertional
materials. The demonstation classroom is made of 3-unit classroom block of 6m x
6m and 1.5m wide corridor on one of the longitudinal side of the building (see Fig.
6). Other features of the design are:
i. 450mm x 450mm reinforced concrete foundation pads
ii. Four whole bamboo culms (75mm diameter) arranged vertically to serve as
columns to the building
iii. Vertical and horizontal matrix of whole bamboo culms to serve as joist to
bamboo laminate floor boards
iv. 900mm wide and 2.1m high single swing hinge bamboo laminate door and
1.5m wide and 1.2m high glass louvre window
v. Whole bamboo culm rafters and purlins to support plywood roof underlay
and bamboo mat corrugated roofing sheets.

814
Figure 6 Transverse section of classroom block built with bamboo
Source: Authors‘ Survey (2015)

Cost comparison

Table 1 and figure 7 showed the comparison of construction cost based on the
underlisted essential building elements:

i. Foundation
ii. Concrete floor
iii. Superstructure wall
iv. Ceiling
v. Doors
vi. Windows
vii. Roof

Table 1 Cost estimates of classroom blocks

Cost Estimates for Classroom Cost Estimate for

block built with conventional Classroom block
S/N Building Elements
materials (₦:K) built with bamboo
(₦:K)
1. Foundation 487,900.00 121,070.00
2. Concrete floor 825,000.00 228,000.00
3. Superstructure wall 643,050.00 435,080.00
4. Ceiling 48,000.00 18,000.00
5. Doors 64,000.00 42,000.00
6. Windows 120,000.00 60,000.00
7. Roof 337,000.00 125,000.00
TOTAL 2,524,950.00 1,029,150.00
Source: Authors‘ Survey (2015)

815
 Figure 7 Comparison of cost estimates

This study in relation to previous studies showed that the cost of constructing
foundation for bamboo classroom block is 24.81% of the cost of constructing the
same foundation for classroom block built with conventional materials. Also, the
costs of constructing doors and windows in classroom block built with
conventional materials represent 152.38% and 200.00% of the cost of constructing
the same in classroom blocks built with bamboo. On the overall, the construction
cost for classroom block is 40.76% of that of classroom block built with
conventional materials.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This paper appraises the construction of low-cost classroom blocks at Isarun, Ondo
State through cost comparison of conventional building materials and bamboo. A
bamboo school building was designed; the cost of construction determined and the
mechanical properties of bamboo reviewed so as to showcase bamboo as an
alternative school building in rural areas. The result showed that the cost of
materials for the construction of a bamboo classroom block at Isarun village is
40.76% of the cost of conventional materials of the prototype of classroom blocks.
Significantly, the cost of materials can be reduced further if bamboo laminate
board is substituted with locally manufactured bamboo mat and encouragement of
indigenous industries in the production of bamboo modular units and other
bamboo products. The implication is that state government should ensure that
more classroom blocks are provided to pupils in rural areas so as to alleviate the
problems of educational infrastructure.

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