Because of its recognized “sustainable” characteristics, bamboo has become very popular in recent years as the material of choice for the eco-product and high end furniture and flooring industries. The fact is that in the west, we are just beginning to uncover the world of possibilities that this almost miraculous plant has to offer. Bamboo is a highly renewable resource and when combined with innovative technologies and processes, it’s one of the most useful, versatile and probably the most sustainable building material available today. To top it all out, it’s beautifully!

In certain applications, bamboo provides structural characteristics that outperform even the most technologically advanced industrial building materials, it has greater compressive strength than concrete and about the same strength-to-weight ratio of steel in tension.

It takes an acre of trees to build the average American home but because of its dense and rapid growth, only the square footage of that same house to build it out of bamboo. It can be harvested every year after only 5-7 years of growth compared to 20-50 years for other woods. Bamboo’s rapid regeneration allows it to be cut without killing the plant. Read the rest of this entry »