Building with Bamboo

Thanks to the efforts of Yan Xiao, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, bamboo can now be turned into structural beams to build and support houses and even bridges. Initially reserved for cosmetic and non-load bearing applications, bamboo is now a viable alternative to traditional hard wood lumber. Xiao’s invention, called GluBam, is a structural lumber made from laminated bamboo veneers that are pressed into beams. The beams can be cut and handled like traditional lumber, but come from a rapidly renewable resource.

Yan Xiao’s GluBam is currently being used to construct classrooms and homes across China and was even used in a bridge in the town of Leiyang in China’s Hunan province. The bridge is the first ever to be constructed using structural bamboo and is a testament to the great strength and range of use that this new bamboo derivative has.

GluBam will also be a great aid to developing countries like China that have vast bamboo forests but lack more robust traditional hardwood resources. By transforming the bamboo stalks into manageable beams, GluBam can be used for a variety of applications and can perform just as well as its hardwood counterparts.

To find out more see GluBam’s feature in Popular Science

Bamboozled by Bamboo?

Bamboo has been touted as the new wonder fabric, it is rapidly renewable, requires little or no pesticides, and is soft to the touch. Today consumers can find many “eco-friendly” products that are made from bamboo but can it really be all that sustainable?

Bamboo is a grass that grows up to two meters per week, and is cut and not uprooted when harvested allowing it to grow back quickly. It is extremely hardy and usually requires only rainfall to grow and thus many industries find it quite appealing as a source material. Unfortunately the majority of bamboo is derived from large plantations in China that are highly under-regulated. Many of the plantations were created through the clear cutting of forests, and although usually grown organically, bamboo is very invasive and can choke out native species and greatly affect local ecosystems. To be processed into fiber, a lot of energy is also consumed and toxic chemicals like caustic soda are needed to refine it into a wearable textile. The whole production process needs greater regulation and transparency to ensure its growth and production is more sustainable.

As with most products on the market there are usually trade offs in its production and use, and bamboo is no exception. Bamboo does have some great positive attributes however; It can be made into a variety of textiles that can be as soft as cashmere or as strong and durable as denim. Bamboo is also praised for its UV protection and its anti-microbial properties although further testing is needed to bolster these claims.

There is no doubt that bamboo is a highly versatile material. It can be used successfully not just for textiles but for a variety of other industries as well. For bamboo to truly be a sustainable material however, more attention must be put on its production and how it is harvested and processed. There is no doubt that bamboo can be a great sustainable material, but the hype surrounding it can be detrimental for the real facts to come out.

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