Survey Questionnaire - Public's Perception

I’m Chua Ji Haw, a student going through Interior Architecture and Design course in KBU International College. As a Final Year student of the mentioned course, I am assigned to conduct a study regarding the public’s viewpoint of traditional building material, bamboo. Therefore, I wish to carry out a survey to attain better understanding respecting Malaysians’ acceptance of bamboo architecture. The following content consists of a set of questions, in which I would like you to fill in to assist me in gathering information for the dissertation. Your help and cooperation are much appreciated.

Section A: Respondent’s information

This section of the questionnaire requires the basic information of respondent. Please choose the appropriate answer for the following questions.

1. Age:

A.        Under 18

B.         Between 18 and 24

C.        Between 25 and 44

D.        Between 45 and 64

E.         65 and upwards

2. Occupation:

A.        Student

B.         Academic

C.        Professional

D.        Business

E.         Others

3. Education Level:

A.        Secondary education

B.         Tertiary education

Section B: Questions Concerning Subject of Interest

This section of the questionnaire requires the respondent to contribute his or her opinion regarding the mentioned subject for information compilation purposes. Please respond with the appropriate answers for the following questions.

                                                                                                                                               

4. Do you see bamboo as a potential building material?

A.        Yes

B.         No

5. If you answered “No” for question 4, what are the reasons behind your nonacceptance? (You can choose more than 1 answer for this question)

A.        Affordability

B.         Safety (strength)

C.        Aesthetic

D.        Prone to insect attacks

6. Knowing the fact that employing bamboo is an environmental friendly measure of construction, would that improve your impression about bamboo?

A.        Yes

B.         No

7. A series of tests were carried out in Germany to test strength and durability of bamboo, the results surpassed the required standards. Are you thence convinced of its safety? (Refer to http://resourceculture.de/blog/articles/manizales-zeri-pavilion-simon-velez)

A.        Yes

B.         No

 (Extracted from globalpost.com)

(Extracted from unimagined.typepad.com)

(Extracted from inhabitat.com)

8. How do you rate the aesthetic of the architectures above?

A.        Good

B.         Moderate

C.        Poor

9. These architectures are in fact made of bamboo. If you answered “Good” or “Moderate” for question 8, do you believe bamboo is capable of of making wondrous architectures?

A.        Yes

B.         No

10. When bamboo is planted locally, its price recedes by 3 times. Accompanied with its cooling properties in tropical countries, it keeps energy consumption low. Does that amount to heighten your confidence in its affordability?
A.        Yes

B.         No

11. Do you now see bamboo as a potential building material?

A.        Yes

B.         No

-END OF QUESTIONNAIRE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION-

Outline

Hypothesis: Bamboo is a sustainable building material that shapes the future of architecture in Malaysia

Chapter 1: Bamboo, a National Asset

• Brief introduction of bamboo in history of construction
• Advantages:

1. Better tensile strength and compressive strength than wood
2. Fastest growing plant – effective renewable resource
3. Sequesters more carbon than trees (up to 4 times)
4. Cannot be digested by termites
5. Flexible, bend without snapping
6. Stronger than steel, yet lighter, and easier to transport
7. Releases heat quickly

• All these potentials cannot be harnessed if bamboo isn’t accepted into architecture. And to be accepted into architecture, the public needs to be convinced, by none other than the three vital concerns – cost, safety and aesthetic.

Chapter 2: Nourishing an Architectural Identity

• Malaysia’s architecture are based on Western concepts, an issue
• Buildings should be a reflection of our rich and diverse content
• Critical regionalism – take environmental context into consideration, solves identity affairs
• Several measures to handle the climate, one is to employ a tropical-weather friendly building material – bamboo
• However using bamboo alone doesn’t solve everything, needs to be accompanied by tropical architecture features like high ceiling and big openings
• As mentioned, a fundamental aspect to consider is aesthetic. The public needs persuasion
• When one speaks of bamboo architecture, it’s almost natural to conjure the image of bamboo in its natural cylindrical state, and traditional houses (symbol of poverty)
• True potential of bamboo is not utilised, case study to show bamboo capable of classy contemporary designs:
• Forest Pavilion, Taiwan; Flying Bamboo, Vietnam
• Bamboo’s flexible and light weight nature give architects space to explore creativity and break free from conventional western designs, a way to develop distinctive architecture identity

Chapter 3: Promoting Green Alternatives

• Growing environmental awareness in Asia pushed Malaysia to go Green
• Shows statistics and greening efforts by other Asia countries
• Bamboo as an alternative building material (less concrete), a substitute of wood which will reduce deforestation
• Bamboo processing releases no emission, it grows and regenerates fast (harvesting doesn’t kill it), possibly the most sustainable material
• Another aspect which deserves consideration is cost. Nevertheless, bamboo can cover that with ease
• Bamboo was always perceived as “wood of the poor”, therefore affordability was never a hindrance
• On top of that, when bamboo is produced locally without the need of shipping or preservative, the cost recedes as much as 3 times
• A cooler building material keeps the building chilly, saves on air conditioning
• Case study: Green School, Bali – Sustainable building which educates children about sustainable living. No walls, make use of daylight and natural breeze.
• After completion of Green School, green houses are built around, people are bringing in green industry. Became a community and a green model. Set forth an example to sustainable design.

Chapter 4: Seeing is Believing

• People could only imagine salad bowls, basket and chopticks when talking about bamboo, oversee the potential as construction material
• Bamboo is hard and dense like teak, but it takes more than words to convince
• Case study: Simon Velez’s Zeri Pavilion – Built to obtain German’s building permit, undergo series of scientific test to prove strength and durability. Results exceeded the standards required in Germany. The structure required heavy equipment including large wrecking balls to demolish, still stands today and is expected to last for quite some time
• By explaining the technical aspects (green features, compressive strength etc), the people are probably unamazed. A more impactful means is needed to interest the laymen – experiencing themselves
• Architects are responsible in educating public by setting living bamboo examples to stir imagination and make it believable as an alternative
• Case study: In 1920, the perception of bamboo as sign of poverty was altered as something exotic and interesting when Europeans traveled to islands of Indonesia and were housed in bamboo resorts. Living examples of bamboo resort – Bumbu Indah, Ubud of Indonesia

Introduction & Inspiring Designs

One of the conclusions to be drawn from an agreement among historians is that the earliest architecture were direct referrals to religion and politics of the time. Be that as it may, in this present context reliance on both these aspects eventually became ossified and anachronistic. Architects in the late nineteenth century too found that neither do the cultural nor conventional social values were any longer a challenge. Hence they quite spontaneously looked to emergent areas of expression – the new technologies and materials.

In the meantime, restless industrial revolution in the West opened up a market of newly discovered materials namely iron, steel and glass. Invention of new building techniques came almost naturally. And of course this subsequently steered architecture into new plausible forms never imagined credible. Architects have ever since strived to exploit technology hoping to fabricate their very own brand of modern marvels. The intention is however not hard to find. Throughout history, fame has been the architects’ lifeblood and motivation to build ever more ambitious schemes (Wiley, 2001). A ticket to world recognition just seems like an offer too good to turn down. Together with building materials of the 21st century, architects have not cease to litter cities with individualistic approach. Apart from the lack of uniform effort, their buildings are in many instances having no cultural reference whatsoever.

Not until recently, concerns with interest to green issues by responsible authorities were put into action. Melting glaciers, climate changes and thinning of ozone are some global changes already under way. Undoubtedly when it comes to environmental havoc, the building sector devoted the most. Nonetheless, it is most unfortunate that only a handful acknowledge the impact of modern building materials.

Dazzled by the dynamic and interesting new architecture, the public forgets to question their propriety with the circumstances of our planet, or even the nation. Hence we have reached the ironic position of having what may well be the most inventive and exciting discoveries, with surely the most ridiculous setbacks. Apparently for Malaysia to have her own architectural identity still generates an impression of a distant dream. From the materials to the shape, our architecture are nothing but direct adaptation of Western prototypes. This pursual for identity, in a strange way, implies that the nation has either lost its identity or doesn't savvy who one is. Equally bad, the extensive use of air conditioner and low dependence on renewable energy suggest low public awareness on environmental affairs. The thought of using climate friendly materials was surgically removed from our memories.

Not only do we need to come up with measures to handle the tropical heat, but also a national symbol. Perhaps the question was already answered. Generations before us had ingeniously uncovered these means without the cutting edge technology we presently have, they only need to be rediscovered.

Dense, enduring, and locally available, bamboo is a familiar material in Malaysian history. Facing no problems coping with the weather, its distinctive properties open up to newfangled potential in architecture design. Within realm of possibility, this could mean the prelude of our modern vernacular built forms. 

________________________________________________________________

Green School, Bali

WnW Cafe and Bar, Vietnam

Simon Velez's Projects

Bamboo - Outline

1.0 Introduction

• Malaysia, like many other countries – faces handful of issues regarding architecture
• Future of architecture remains uncertain – heading a direction that isn’t clear
• No uniform effort by architects and developers (to build country together) – design to merely build one’s identity and style
• Causes the absence of a national identity/national architecture – important as semblance of nation and inhabitants
• Emerging environmental issues like global warming, thinning of ozone, scarcity of natural resources – new buildings constrained to take considerations – reduce impact
• Bamboo is possibly an answer to these

2.0 Background

• Introducing bamboo – a group of perenial (plant that lives more than 2 years) evergreens in the true grass family Poacaea
• Used since a long way back in Asian history (food, building, furniture). Seen as cultural material that has root in Asian vernacular architecture – rediscovered today
• Bamboo grows profusely throughout Asia, most bamboo exports to North America are from China and Vietnam
• Farmers gradually replace current platation with bamboo, it’s more profitable
• Now gaining popularity in many parts of the world, including Western Europe and all over America – believed to have potential to be environmentally sustainable building material
• Approximately 50 types of bamboo can be used for construction, mainly use Guadua (a species of giant bamboo)
• Guadua is hard as wood, has hollow body making it light, anti-seismic resistance (earthquake/vibration), low cost, easy to handle

3.1 A Promising Solution for the Environment

• There is a great possibility that Green technology being a big part of Malaysian architecture in the near future
• Existing issues directed architecture to a Green-er approach - sustainable design became a practical option
• Definition: Sustainable buildings are healthier, more comfortable, more durable, and more energy efficient and have a much smaller environmental footprint throughout their life cycle than conventional buildings. (Includes siting & structure design efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency, materials efficiency, indoor environmental quality enhancement, operation & maintenance, waste reduction) Close cooperation between three main players – architect, engineer and client is required from the beginning
• Green technology began 40 years ago when Henri Becquerel invented photovoltaic power during the industrial revolution
• Green alone does not mean sustainability, but merely consumes or emits less than a predetermined benchmark
• Sustainable means consuming or emitting no faster than what can be replaced and repaired naturally (no harm to environment)
• Green building in Asia requires several qualifications
• To earn certificate, a building secures credits to comply with a checklist of terms
• Certification costs money and time. However, it promises saving and a measure of status
• The trend of Green architecture in Asia emerges very suddenly, much is driven by the formation of Green Building Councils (GBCs) and its rating tools in 2002
• These assessment tools became game changer in market. Example: Singapore’s GBCs – Green Mark is one of the few government-owned Green council in Asia (launched 2005). Since 2008, all new buildings are compulsory to be certified. Results in 2011 – 25 million square metres of Green Mark certified space (12% of Singapore’s total built space)
• China announced having 200 certified buildings, another 300 under construction. LEED-certified space in India leaped from 1800 square metres in 2003 to 2.3 million square metres in 2010. In 2009, over 200 buildings in Hong Kong were HK-BEAM certified
• Year-to-year annual reports suggest increament in certification number
• Green improves building performance in relation to known costs – interests developers and owners.
• Green appears as great opportunity to governments. Over 40% of all energy and 25% of water consumed within a country is by its building sector. 80% of all energy used by a building is in its operations. A big drop in energy consumption eliminates national dependency on imports, possibly removing the need to expand utilities infrastructure – solution for energy and water security
• Apparent climate changes became every government’s concern. Urges decreament target in emission. India – reduce 24% of carbon intensity by 2020; China reduce 40%; Taiwan created 4 low carbon regions. All these targets cannot be met without involving building sector
• Growing Green trends in many parts of Asia pressed Malaysia to walk the similar path
• Replace wood with bamboo is a clever way to aid the environment
• Bamboo is ecological alternative to wood for construction
• Bamboo has better tensile and compressive strength than wood
• No plants grow faster than bamboo, capable of up to 1.25m growth in 24 hours (easily regenerated)
• Tree takes 20-60 years for harvest, bamboo only 3 years. Cutting bamboo doesn’t kill the plant, can be reharvested every 3 years without damaging it or surrounding.
• During regeneration, root stays intact, prevents erosion
• Will regrow with denser fiber – most effective renewable resource
• Saves cutting trees, prevents deforestation
• Bamboo sequesters 4 times more carbon than trees, mitigates greenhouse effect
• According to the people at the Zero Emissions Research Institute (ZERI), bamboo forest can sequester 17 times as much carbon as typical tree forest
• Unless replacing natural forest, bamboo forest comes with positive environmental balance
• Bamboo can be planted locally, doesn’t require preservative or shipment (saves cost and fuels)
• However, requires different type of treatment than of wood
• Can be done using environmentally friendly methods – remove starch and sugar (attract insects) using smoking method – smoke cut bamboos using fire fueled by bamboos
• Smoking process also makes bamboo much denser (stronger)
• To protect against decay, bamboo bathed in boric salts (non-hazardous) and coated with a finish that emits no volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Nothing goes to waste, leaves used to feed livestock
• Beginning a decade ago, bamboo flooring has become a serious contender in hardwood flooring market

3.2 A True Building Material

• Malaysia has yet to have a known building material that can satisfy both climate and economic circumstances
• Equatorial weather – high temperature, heavy rainfall, humid all year. Buildings are constrained to take considerations of these conditions to attain comfortable living
• Bricks are cheap and easily available but have high latent heat properties – collect heat during day and release at night (Not suitable for tropical setting)
• Wood has best scientific benefits for tropical country – captures and releases heat quickly
• Wood’s setbacks: not consistent in characteristics because it’s natural; only selected type of timber can be used for construction; highly skilled labour and advanced technology are required to produce volume sufficient to cater for industry; has to be treated to become weatherproof
• Scarcity due to depletion of forest makes wood costly and cannot be used as exensively as bricks
• Bamboo can be an alternative material – renewable and inexpensive resource
• Can be used as walls, support structures, roofing and flooring
• Bamboo is naturally designed for strength and durability– with no rays and knots like wood, it can withstand more strength
• High silica content – cannot be digested by termites
• Bamboo contains different chemical extractives than hardwood, which make it better suited for gluing 
• Structural engineering test conducted - Higher tensile strength than many alloys of steel, higher compressive strength than many mixtures of concrete (can totally replace metal structure)
• Lighter than steel, shape makes it easily transported
• Dense fibers in each bamboo give it flexibility, able to bend without snapping
• Bamboo absorbs heat readily and releases quickly like wood. If bamboo replaced bricks, can be used as a passive cooling solution, cut down the need for air conditioning (great for tropical climate that is hot and humid)
• The roundness of  the bamboo means that the joints may be geometrically complex
• Fortunately, Colombian prize-winning architect, Simon Velez uses bamboo as primary construction material. Invented many bamboo joineries (fish mouth joinery) and proved bamboo as sustainable material
• Bamboo can only be used for low rise buildings – cannot replace load bearing strength possessed by reinforced concrete
• Cannot replace concrete floor - ability to bend without breaking makes it unsuitable for building floor structures due to a very low tolerance for deflection
• Similar to wood, bamboo as natural material is not consistent in characteristics and properties
• Application of bamboo in design is still developing, more new applications to be expected

3.3 Search for National Identity

• Malaysia was devoured by an unfamiliar and foreign architecture culture that was brought in by local architects that were educated and trained in western countries
• Used education abroad to spread International Style architecture in Malaysia
• The need to keep up with rapid growth of economy and population did not give local architects time to explore and experiment architecture – the style was therefore brought forward
• Owing to western influence, local architects developed interest for western concept – resulting loss of focus for regional architecture
• Malaysia has rich and interesting cultures and history – can be made as references when planning an architecture
• National buildings should reflect our brand of architecture
• Critical Regionalism – take building’s environmental context into consideration rather than having a soulless free-standing building which lacks identity
• Architecture in Malaysia should take account from all respects, including climate, culture etc
• Malaysia’s oldfangled traditional architecture requires refinement and development to keep up with the present day context
• Several attempts were made to develop image of national architecture
• Example: National Museum is described as direct adaptation of identifiable vernacular element of a traditional Malay house  - Minangkabau roof topped a typical modern construction - superficial implant of vernacular element
• Frank Lloyd Wright believes architecture should grow out of its surroundings
• Naturally gives architecture local uniqueness – forming national identity
• Using material that satisfy Malaysia’s circumstances (climate, economic, history etc) and available locally – bamboo
• Bamboo’s flexibility and light weight allow architects to easily break free from conventional design
• Various Columbian architects perfected ways to join bamboos to build huge structure

3.4 Educating the Public

• Bamboo always perceived as “wood of the poor”, not accepted because it’s a poor measure of social level
• People could only imagine salad bowls, basket and chopsticks when speaking of bamboo, couldn’t see potential in building construction
• Only seen as temporary structures (scaffolding and pavillions)
• Necessary to convince/persuade public to use or accept bamboo, by proving their benefits
• Prove it’s the right way forward as a potential sustainable building material
• (Conduct online survey on public’s acceptance of bamboo as building material)
• To change poor understanding of people – is to set examples – seeing is believing
• Laymen are not interested in technical aspects (green features, bamboo’s lightweight and strength), but instead an aesthetically remarkable bamboo architecture – more impactful in educating
• Change opinion of public that bamboo is not only limited to old fashioned designs, but can be made into complicated comtemporary forms
• First hand experience of cooler temperature inside a bamboo building without air conditioner
• Example: In 1920, many Europeans traveled to little islands of Indonesia, bamboo resorts were created to house vacationers – changed perception from poor to exotic and interesting
• Bamboo lacks support from government – needs to be recognised as an official construction material and sustainable