The Spanish Association of Project Management and Engineering has recognized La Guadua Angustifolia project as a structural material used in the design of greenhouses with the “Jaume Blasco” Award for Innovation 2015.
Wood is the most widespread structural element in Mediterranean greenhouses, however, it is currently being replaced by galvanized steel. And it is evident that this replacement is not in line with the desired change in our productive-construction model. For this reason, researchers from the Universities of Almería and Jaén and from cicCartuja have explored the possibilities of the bamboo species (Guadua angustifolia) as a viable alternative for the design of greenhouses.
The researchers have carried out a comparative study of the mechanical properties of wood, steel and bamboo. According to their results, the maximum admissible compressive strength values of bamboo are similar to those of steel, hence its name “vegetable steel”. Bamboo also offers great slenderness thanks to its tubular shape and is the material with the best economic-ecological cost.
Bamboo is produced in South America and a feasibility study would have to be carried out to import it to the Mediterranean areas. However, in our country there are many greenhouse construction companies working in several South American countries that could incorporate this material in order to reduce costs.
The authors of the project conclude that greenhouse crop farmers could reduce the costs of their installation with this cheaper structural material and, in addition, the use of this material would extend the surface area of greenhouse crops in countries where farmers have fewer resources.
The work was presented as an Oral Communication at the 19th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering, and will soon be published by Springer as a chapter in the book “Lecture Notes in Management and Industrial Engineering”.
The authors of the work are Drs. engineers E. Garzón1 and M. Cano1, Drs. in CC. Chemists L. Pérez-Villarejo2 and S. Martínez2, and the Scientific Researcher of the CSIC at the ICMS and Head of the Research Group “Advanced Materials” P.J. Sánchez-Soto3.
1University of Almería
2University of Jaén
3Institute of Materials Science of Seville (CSIC-US)
More information in: http://aeipro.com/index.php/es/noticias-congreso-2015/1180-premios-del-cidip-2015
