Category Archives: Sustainability

BAMBOO: The Future of Green Construction

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One construction material that’s worth venturing in is bamboo. Bamboo is known to be one of the most strong and at the same time flexible, versatile plants in the world. It’s been used for centuries for food, medicine, construction, furniture, textile, paper, musical instrument, water processing and many more. Findings report that bamboo suspension bridges in China were found to have been built in the 3rd century B.C. It’s not odd to find bamboo in structure, supplemental as well as decorative element of a modern construction.

As the 2011 winner of the Architectural Design Award for our 1000 m2 pillarless Great Hall on Eco Campus, constructed entirely of bamboo, we can say that bamboo is a superb material. The Great Hall is a 45 meter in diameter and 17 meter arch oval dome-shaped building, that is naturally lit by a 24 m2 polycarbonate sky light, and uses over 8000 bamboos, thatched roof and natural stone flooring. Bamboo’s strong, flexible, durable and versatile nature is enough reason for researchers, architects and engineers around the world to study the plant. It is a superb material for sustainable constructions.

The facts of Bamboo and why it’s a superior material for construction:

  • Bamboo is a very robust grass, very low (or none) maintenance and spreads easily
  • Bamboo is the fastest growing grass, some species have been recorded as growing up to 100cm (39in) within 24 hours –which makes it a very cheap resource
  • The hollow tube shape gives a strength factor of 1.9 times more than an equivalent solid wood beam
  • After being treated, bamboo is a very hard wood, but it’s also light and very tough
  • Bamboo is the best eco-friendly alternative to building with timber from a green standpoint
  • It can grow very high, some 60 feet high
  • Certain bamboos has twice the compression strength of concrete and roughly the same strength-to-weight ratio of mild steel
  • Various structural shapes may be made by training the bamboo to assume them as it grows

    My column on BritCham's UpDate Magazine