Sustainable Building Material . Malaysia

The choices of material or resources are vital in a sustainable building construction. A natural resources are usually defined as 'renewable' and 'non-renewable'. Renewable resources can be harvested regularly when in right condition such as timber while non-renewable can only be harvested once (Berge, 2009).

Moreover, the sustainable building materials are defined with few characteristic including, natural and abundant, locally available, reusable and recyclable, as well as durable in order to minimize the environmental impact (Building Material Online, 2018).

Figure 1 : Wood

Figure 2 : Timber House

One of the sustainable materials that suitable in Malaysia is timber. Timber is widely used in many of the traditional building. “Timber is a versatile building material.”It can be used as a building’s skeleton structure or internal and external finishes. Timber is the ultimate sustainable material as it can be grown, used and replenished with little or no waste from its manufacture and production (Farrelly, 2009).

Figure 3 : Bamboo

Figure 4 : Cross Section of Bamboo

Another example of sustainable material will be bamboo. Bamboo is a highly renewable resource as it is one of the fastest growing plant (Econation For People and Planet, 2018). In addition, the qualities of bamboo is an ideal construction material, especially bamboo that grow in optimum condition, a warm and humid climate. The canes provides a high strength to weight ratio and it do not break when bent as the cross section is round or rounded, and hollow with rigid transversal walls (Schleifer, 2014).

References
Berge, B. (2009) The Ecology of Building Materials Second Edition. United Kingdom.: Elsevier Ltd.

Building Material Online (2018) 37 Sustainable Construction and Building Materials. Available at : https://buildingmaterials.com.my/ideas/37-sustainable-construction-and-building-materials [Accessed 6 June 2018]

Econation For People and Planet (2018) Bamboo. Available at : https://econation.co.nz/bamboo/ [Accessed 6 June 2018]

Farrelly, L. (2009) Basic Architecture 02 - Construction + Materiality. Switzerland.: AVA Publishing SA.

Schleifer, S.K. (2014) Architecture & Materials. Barcelona, Spain.: LOFT Publications.

Figure
Figure 1 : https://www.acadiantimber.com/_Global/34/img/rotator/tile2.jpg
Figure 2 : http://www.mtc.com.my/i/resources-Projects-TheLampPostHouseLangkawi-1.jpg
Figure 3 : https://cdnassets.hw.net/dims4/GG/9c58c65/2147483647/resize/876x%3E/format/png/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdnassets.hw.net%2F69%2Fa5%2F76b06e9a45fbacf5927e9005c683%2F17088-architect-stills-0048e-copy.tif
Figure 4 : http://www.flaviodeslandes.com/pictures/bamboo-fiber.jpg