Why Bamboo?

A preservation technique, involving the use of smoke, but without the use of toxins, will prevent bamboo's deterioration for decades. Following proven construction techniques, Bamboo structures can also be earthquake-resistant. Recent earthquakes in Colombia's coffee zone proved this when many houses built in the 1930s survived, while modern houses collapsed. These older houses appeared to be made of cement and blocks, but when the stucco cracked and fell off, the bamboo structure inside was revealed wholly intact. Similar results have been reported after earthquakes in Costa Rica.

Sustainability and Bamboo's Environmental Credentials

Much of the huge tropical rain forests and their biodiversity has vanished, and millions of hectares have been transformed into pastures and cropland. It is only now, due to recent technical studies and modern day research, that bamboo's superior mechanical properties and relatively short growth cycle have brought this "vegetable steel" to the forefront of attention.

While bamboo culms used for building can be harvested in natural forests, over-exploitation leads rapidly to the depletion of natural resources. For large-scale use of Guadua Angustifolia, the management of sustainable bamboo forests and groves, as well as the establishment of new nurseries and plantations, is a priority.

Tropical bamboo can be propagated easily with cuttings or by covering complete culms with soil. The next year, new plants will sprout. Guadua can be propagated more rapidly by the ìchusquinî method. Under this approach, culms are cut at ground level when harvesting causing many small delicate shoots and new plants to grow around the original plant. This is a suitable method for large-scale forests or for farm cooperatives. Since bamboo is a grass,harvesting it down to the soil induces more new shoots to emerge, just like turf grass. This is unique to bamboo, an advantage over reforesting tropical hardwoods.

Even more rapid methods have been recently developed through the use of tissue culture. Bamboo propagated in a laboratory in the space of one square meter will be sufficient to establish one hectare of new forest. These plants can also be readily transported in a one-half-cubic-meter box. Unlike hardwoods, harvesting can begin six years after planting; another reason why bamboo is gaining recognition as one of the leaders in tropical biomass production.

With respect to CO2, Guadua is more effective at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than most other biomass. Studies have been conducted in Colombia by the Environmental Bamboo Foundation and the results are astonishing. On the basis of these continuing studies, Japan and the Netherlands have both undertaken massive bamboo forestation projects as a way of earning "carbon credits" to offset industrial pollution.

Be sure to check out our photo gallery for design ideas and inspiration. We offer detailed installation instructions for all of our materials. We will be happy to share any ideas or tips to ensure you select the best material and achieve the most beautiful result possible.