What is the Engineered Bamboo for Sustainable Construction Micro-Certificate?
The micro-certificate consists of four two-week courses that cover bamboo cultivation, engineered bamboo fabrication and application for building construction, as well as carbon sequestration potentials in the growing ‘green’ economy.
Why choose the Engineered Bamboo for Sustainable Construction Micro-Certificate?
Building construction and operations count for nearly 40% global carbon emission. Sustainable building materials and design is at the forefront of fighting against the climate change. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody fiber on the planet. It has a faster carbon sequestration rate than wood due to its larger yield per hectare and extensive perennial belowground rhizomes. Bamboo is stronger and stiffer than many commodity lumber species and can be processed into engineered bamboo products and wood hybrid products like cross laminated timber, glued laminated timber, parallel strand lumber and veneer laminated lumber.
Bamboo is a highly renewable construction material, but better understanding and data is needed on the material properties, design considerations, manufacturing, quality control, building code certifications and sustainable management of this naturally variable resource. This micro-certificate program aims to fill in these knowledge gaps to help promote diversification of natural fibers in value-added building materials. In addition to the international expertise of UBC BAM group members, an expert panel of industry leaders and academics has been curated to present case studies on real world bamboo projects, as well as fundamental knowledge.
What will you learn?
Using industry case studies, this flexible online course will help students develop knowledge and skills in understanding and utilizing bamboo as a sustainable material with focus on engineered bamboo for building construction. Students will specifically:
- Develop understanding of bamboo as a fast-growing plant and its social, economic and environmental importance;
- Describe bamboo material properties and their limitations compared with timber, product taxonomy and applications;
- Develop the fundamental understanding and manufacturing processes of engineered bamboo products for code compliance;
- Characterize and compare product properties of engineered bamboo with wood products for contemporary building applications;
- Design engineered bamboo structures for lateral and vertical loading in buildings including their critical connector systems;
- Describe the carbon sequestration of bamboo cultivation;
- Determine carbon storage in engineered bamboo products and identify carbon saving opportunities in using bamboo-based products for building projects; and
- Understand the application procedure for current Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for different bamboo products under ISO 1405.
Who should apply?
This course is designed for working professionals, including architects, structural engineers and materials scientists who are interested in using natural materials for net-zero buildings. The combination of fundamental and applied course content is also suitable for students in the natural sciences and engineering or bamboo enthusiasts. The proposed course will provide the tools to train the industry leaders of tomorrow by welcoming them into the bamboo community through sharing cutting-edge knowledge on the new materials and technologies we need to use to build a sustainable future.
Employment Opportunities
- Government (managers, planners in forest and environmental sector)
- Forest industry – with focus on advanced wood products manufacturing
- Private sector – architects, engineers and builders interested in zero-carbon construction
- Non-governmental organizations (sustainable development, poverty alleviation and green economy)
