PRESS RELEASE:
THE FUTURE OF BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION
What We Need to Do Now
By David E. Sands, AIA LEED AP
An additional consideration for Europe that needs to be addressed is that the climate of much of Europe is not conducive to the commercial cultivation of bamboo. This means shipping bamboo to Europe from other places. Shipping then becomes part of the environmental equation when considering bamboo for construction. A study done at Eindhoven University considered bamboo from Central America as opposed to steel, concrete and two types of sustainably grown wood for a bridge construction project. Even with the shipping between hemispheres bamboo had a much lower embodied energy than the other building materials. Further research and education of the public is needed along this line. Bamboo could become an alternative to extractive industries as an export for developing African countries. A consideration we often face in the US is a perception that bamboo is invasive. We educate our potential clients about the difference between monopodial and sympodial bamboos (runners and clumpers) and we have stuck with clumping species for our supply. If a monopodial is being used then a proper management plan has to be implemented and the public educated about it.
THE FUTURE OF BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION
What We Need to Do Now
By David E. Sands, AIA LEED AP
In the midst of a recession there has and continues to be a green construction boom. Sales of green homes in the US has continued to rise when conventional construction has been flat. The opportunity for the growth of bamboo construction has never been better. There are a number of actions that need to be taken for bamboo to fulfill its potential as a building material in Europe, the US and other developed countries. The first is taking leadership in education as to why bamboo should be used for construction. This is particularly true in Europe and the US where there is no history of bamboo construction. The primary educational focus should be on the protection of native forests, and on the reduced need for mining to produce steel and concrete that the increased use of bamboo for construction affords.
The focus of the green standards for construction that have been developed has been mainly on energy conservation. In the US 90% of the energy used during the life of a building is from operations. However the materials used in a building have a much greater environmental footprint than simply the energy used for production and placement. Steel and concrete are both extractive industries and the use of wood for construction results in deforestation. At the same time to expand the use of bamboo beyond tropical areas it is very important to design for minimum energy use over the life of the buildings as exemplified by the Passivhaus Institut in Germany and the work of Zeri in Scandanavia. Our goal should be to create buildings which produce more energy than they consume.
For each acre of bamboo properly put into production for construction material many acres of trees can be taken out of production, eliminating the loss of cover and the erosion that would have been associated with the harvesting of those trees. When the avoided deforestation is taken into account the carbon stored by building with bamboo is effectively nearly doubled. More research is needed but the case can and should be made for using bamboo to address the most pressing issue of our time – global climate change. In the World Bamboo Congress in Bangkok I presented a strategy for using bamboo for carbon sequestration. In the educational process, there is no substitute for direct personal experience, in this case for being able to visit a bamboo building. This leads to the second action needed which is establishing model projects.
The Hanover pavilion produced by Zeri and designed by SimonVelez is a good example and there are others in Europe already. My company, Bamboo Living, was able to build in the US prior to the completion of our national building code standard by working with local building officials. We brought Dr. Jules Janssen from Eindhoven University in the Netherlands to Hawaii to educate the local building officials about bamboo construction. Also as we completed each step in developing the standard we provided the latest information to the local building officials to review and provide feedback. This was essential to the development of our ICC standard as ICC wanted data from engineers working with the material. It also allowed us to generate the funds needed for the building code standard which took us seven years and significant expense to complete. Perhaps a similar approach can be taken for Europe through a creative collaboration between the public and private sectors and interested universities. Our team is certainly interested in being part of such an effort. From my perspective the first step is to find the client who is willing to be the pioneer. This leads us to the next issue of understanding who will buy bamboo buildings. Unless there is a market and that market is developed bamboo construction remains only a nice idea. In the US we have found that the people interested in building with bamboo tend to be from the group defined as the “cultural creatives” and as the LOHAS consumers. They are highly educated and values driven.
To grow the bamboo construction opportunity in Europe, as we have been doing in the US, the considerations of this group of people need to be addressed. Their considerations revolve around the values that drive them. They care about the environment and social justice. 
How can they be assured that they are buying a green product? There is an apt analogy with the growth of the organic industry in the US and Europe. What was needed in the US to take organic food into the mainstream was the development of an organic standard that the buyer could feel assured met their personal standard. The development of the USDA Organic label was that necessary step. We could similarly establish a standard for bamboo that assured environmental principles were upheld in the growth, harvesting and manufacturing and that fair trade practices were adhered to throughout the supply chain. Glues and finishes should meet stepped goals for both performance and “greenness” similar to the CAFE standards used in the US to promote ingenuity with regard to environmental performance in the automobile industry. Sadly, organic food in the US is often associated with elitism. A goal of the bamboo construction industry has to be democratization. Bamboo should be not only the preferred environmental alternative but also the affordable alternative to conventional construction. This will need to come through scaling and new product development both of which we have been working on assiduously.
How can they be assured that they are buying a green product? There is an apt analogy with the growth of the organic industry in the US and Europe. What was needed in the US to take organic food into the mainstream was the development of an organic standard that the buyer could feel assured met their personal standard. The development of the USDA Organic label was that necessary step. We could similarly establish a standard for bamboo that assured environmental principles were upheld in the growth, harvesting and manufacturing and that fair trade practices were adhered to throughout the supply chain. Glues and finishes should meet stepped goals for both performance and “greenness” similar to the CAFE standards used in the US to promote ingenuity with regard to environmental performance in the automobile industry. Sadly, organic food in the US is often associated with elitism. A goal of the bamboo construction industry has to be democratization. Bamboo should be not only the preferred environmental alternative but also the affordable alternative to conventional construction. This will need to come through scaling and new product development both of which we have been working on assiduously.An additional consideration for Europe that needs to be addressed is that the climate of much of Europe is not conducive to the commercial cultivation of bamboo. This means shipping bamboo to Europe from other places. Shipping then becomes part of the environmental equation when considering bamboo for construction. A study done at Eindhoven University considered bamboo from Central America as opposed to steel, concrete and two types of sustainably grown wood for a bridge construction project. Even with the shipping between hemispheres bamboo had a much lower embodied energy than the other building materials. Further research and education of the public is needed along this line. Bamboo could become an alternative to extractive industries as an export for developing African countries. A consideration we often face in the US is a perception that bamboo is invasive. We educate our potential clients about the difference between monopodial and sympodial bamboos (runners and clumpers) and we have stuck with clumping species for our supply. If a monopodial is being used then a proper management plan has to be implemented and the public educated about it.
For bamboo construction to be widely accepted new products need to be developed that meet developed country standards for construction durability, performance and appearance. This can come in the creative use of poles and in the development of engineered bamboo products. We have gathered a think tank of global leaders and formed a new company, Bamboo Intelligence Global, to implement the technologies and strategies we have been developing. As a company we are pursuing an integrative approach that benefits all stakeholders from farmers to homeowners and look forward to sharing more about our efforts in the future. Our website is www.bamboointelgobal.com. Please join us in our efforts.
There are a number of opportunities for further research regarding bamboo construction. In loading tests done at IIT in Delhi, unlike steel and concrete, bamboo did not fail catastrophically. This could be a valuable area for further research as it defines the value of bamboo for construction in earthquake prone areas. Also with proper fireproofing the use of bamboo could be significantly expanded to compete with steel and concrete in midrise construction applications. For example we have been working with one technology that
encases bamboo in a cold ceramic.
Bamboo for construction is close approaching a tipping point. We have been seeing that in the US and I believe it is true for Europe as well. It will be through the concerted efforts of the people here and others like you that we can reach that point soon and begin to maximize the potential for bamboo in construction. This is a wonderful game where everyone wins including our beautiful little Earth. Let’s win this one for our home planet.
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