Plants offer alternative building material
Posted
An African expert on building technology says farmers and engineers should look to the plant world for new ways to build.
Dr Leonard Mwaikambo from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania is attending a series of conferences on new building technologies in Toowoomba this week.
He says researchers have already made corrugated roofs, door and window frames from plant extracts like cashew nut liquids that are the equal of conventional building frames.
"There are properties that you cannot get with glass fibres. For example, with plant fibre you can have very good impact resistance technologies, so depending on what you want to do, what is the market demand, there is the potential for these materials," he said.
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