Bamboo Roofing

If you are in the middle of constructing a new building, whether it be a home, animal shelter, or business, you know the need for proper roofing. The material from which your roof is made will greatly affect the temperature conditions inside, in addition to the building’s appearance outside.

There is now a relative newcomer to the roofing market that is not only affordable, but also environmentally friendly in comparison to traditional roofing methods. Corrugated bamboo roofing sheets, or CBRS, are the latest alternative to roofing sheets made of corrugated iron, asbestos, plastic or zinc. As they are made from bamboo, a fast-growing natural resource, they can stand up to pest attacks and severe weather conditions, in addition to being both attractive and durable.

How Are CBRS Made?
A CBRS is made using a six-step process. This process is nearly identical to the way bamboo mat board is made; the only difference is that mats are pressed between flat plates to set, while the CBRS is set between corrugated plates.

To make a CBRS, bamboos are first split into very thin slivers. These slivers are woven into large mats, which are then put into an adhesive resin to soak. Next, the mats are lifted from their resin bath and allowed to drain out any excess fluid and dry completely. After they have completely dried, the mats are pressed together using corrugated plates that compress them into each other using extreme temperature and pressure. Finally, the mats are trimmed to specified dimensions.

Successful Manufacturing of CBRS
Factories that produce CBRS can be a boon for the communities in which they are located. In addition to providing jobs for people actually manufacturing the product, CBRS factories spread into the local economy, supporting other businesses and people in the community such as bamboo growers and their harvesters, material transporters, even marketing people. These businesses all work hand in hand with the CBRS factory, and the symbiotic relationship that is formed can bring long-term benefits to the communities in which they are based, especially poorer rural communities.

If you are considering opening a CBRS factory, there are eight things you need to have available to you before you can start. First, you will need to identify that you have a suitable market for your CBRS, and the mechanisms in place to market your product. You will need start-up capital to pay your workers and builders. You will also need land upon which to build your factory, and a reliable supply of electricity. Next, you will need access to a steady supply of raw material – in this case, bamboo – to weave into the mats that make up CBRS. To go along with the raw material, you will need skilled bamboo weavers, or, barring their availability, people who are willing and ready to be trained in the skill of bamboo weaving.

Following these, you will need to either purchase or have reliable access to the machines and equipment that are used in mat and sheet production. Along with these, you need people who are technically trained in the installation and maintenance of the machines, as well as people trained in unit management to oversee all production. Finally, you will need stable ways of transporting your product in all stages: raw material to off-site weavers, woven mats to factory, and factory to customer.

Economic Impact
A CBRS manufacturer will provide a significant positive economic impact on the community in which it is located. As many as 200 jobs, most in the field of mat production, will be created for a factory that produces 500,000 square meters of roofing sheet per year. In addition to the jobs created by the manufacturing, a CBRS factory will also stimulate the local economy by creating positions for marketing and selling of your product. If you are setting up in an area that is heavily saturated with corrugated iron roofing, the opportunity for replacement by CBRS is very large.

In addition, CBRS factories are not capital-intensive. Instead, they are labor-oriented and can help develop small-scale industry throughout rural regions. This small-scale industry is especially suited to provide family members – women in particular – the opportunity to generate income through the weaving of mats without having to travel far from their homes.

Environmental Benefits of CBRS
Hand in hand with the economic impact of a CBRS factory comes the environmental benefits. The largest benefit is the use of bamboo. Because CBRS are made from bamboo, having a factory will create and nurture the use of sustainable bamboo plantations, allowing them to grow and harvest materials while local timber woods are left to grow and thrive. Cultivating bamboo is beneficial for soil conservation, and bamboo plantations are encouraged as part of programs specializing in social forestry.

Usage Benefits
Because CBRS roofing is produced using natural materials, they are extremely weather durable and resistant to pest attacks, allowing them to remain in use for many seasons without replacement. When a CBRS roof is used, the noise volume during rainstorms is much quieter indoors. In addition, during hot weather the inside of a building covered by CBRS remains much cooler than one covered by corrugated iron — so much so that a study in India showed that cows housed in sheds covered with CBRS produced more milk than cows housed in sheds covered with corrugated iron.

Financial Aspects of CBRS
An overall glimpse of the financial aspects of producing CBRS can be found by looking at the numbers from a factory in Vietnam. A CBRS factory that produces half a million square meters of roofing a year has a capital cost of 375 million VN Dong (approximately US$25,600). To produce one five-layer CBRS with a size of 0.8 meters x 0.2 meters, the cost is US$1.96.

Corrugated bamboo roofing sheets are relatively easy to produce and distribute, which can have a significant impact on distribution in low-cost housing. For example, India’s IAY housing project builds 15,000 low-cost hosing units each year. Each of these houses can be fitted with CBRS instead of corrugated iron. Though there is not a major price difference between metal and bamboo roofing sheets, the benefits of using CBRS over iron is easy to note. The primary benefits of CBRS are economic. Because CBRS can be produced locally, involving the consumers directly by providing income through employment in the factory that makes the roofing, CBRS is economically favorable for community development.

Further Reading
If you would like to find out more information on CBRS, please see these links:

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR): http://www.inbar.int

Corrugated Bamboo Roofing Sheets Transfer of Technology Model (TOTEM) from INBAR: http://www.inbar.int/totem/totemmain.asp

Bamboo Mat Board TOTEM from INBAR: http://www.inbar.int/totem/totemmain.asp

Bamboo Splitting and Silvering TOTEM from INBAR: http://www.inbar.int/totem/totemmain.asp

INBAR Bamboo Mat Board Technology Page: http://www.inbar.int/livelihood/doc/Matboard.pdf

Bamboo Panel Boars – A State of the Art Report. 1996. Ganapathy, P.M., Zhu, H.M., Zoolagud, S.S., Turcke, D., and Espiloy, Z.B. http://www.inbar.int/publication/pubdetail.asp?publicid=12