Monday, February 25, 2008

Bamboo as a "Green Material"

Hello Everyone! This blog is going to be used to talk about Bamboo as a "Green" building material, and what we could do with this rapidly renewable material to make it more popular in the Province of British Columbia, and to create "Greener" construction.

11 comments:

Dale Parkes said...

Hi Travis.
The formatting looks good to me. Nothing funny happens to the title when I scroll down and back up. Perhaps you have fixed it?
-Dale.

Dale Parkes said...

I picked up a good book on green building this weekend that has some information about bamboo. I will bring it to class today if I remember.

Cari said...

Hey Travis.
i just thought this site had some cool pictures.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=529

Cari said...

Hi Travis.
I was looking at this site on the Queens university webpage and there is a professor Dr. David Turke who is researching bamboo and i thought maybe you could contact him by email.

http://www.civil.queensu.ca/people/faculty/turcke/

Travis Helm said...

Thanks. This stuff helps a lot.

Derek Anderson said...

Travis.
You should stop by bamboo world in chilliwack, turn on annis road from hwy 1 and follow the signs to the nursury. I stopped by there once and it was pretty informative. You should be able to get lots of information from the horticulturists relating to growth and care for bamboo.

Jared said...

Hey Travis;

I found this website regarding different types of bamboo and what these different types of bamboo are best used for. Hopefully it is useful.
http://www.bamboos.com/Choosing%20and%20Growing.html

Best Regards;

Jared

Anonymous said...

Travis,
A few books I came across that you may find useful.

"New Bamboo: Architecture and Design"
By: Marcelo Villegas
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/New-Bamboo-Architecture-and-Design-Marcelo-Villegas/9789588156064-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527bamboo+design%2527

"Grow Your Own House"
By: Simon Velez
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Grow-Your-Own-House-Simon-Velez/9783931936259-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527bamboo+design%2527

BrianV8 said...

i dunno this whole bamboo thing seems kinda pricy to me, u know how many pandas will loose there houses to make your bamboo house?

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1112chinapandas12-ODD.html

Nicole Link said...

I was perusing the web and I found this interesting International Bamboo Building Design Competition here in B.C.

http://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=3171499013501667854&label=&searchType=CURRENT&txtKeywords=&numPosts=25

There are also links to other articles on strategic sustainable development. I hope it helps.

Dale Parkes said...

Nicole, I cannot get this link to work. I think you have posted the link to the search page.
While looking for the competition that you spoke of I found this blog that has "1000s of things made of bamboo". It might be inspiring for Travis:
http://hautenature.blogspot.com/2007/07/1000s-of-things-made-of-bamboo.html

Bamboo Bridge

Bamboo Bridge

Planning Outline


Project: Determine how bamboo could be brought to British Columbia and used to create “greener” construction.

Method:
1. Find out what makes a building material a “Green” material in construction.

2. Talk about all the different characteristics of “Green” materials and how bamboo meets up to those standards in British Columbia right now.

3. Apply the research to determine what we could do with bamboo in order to make it a “Greener”, and more popular building material in British Columbia.

4. Show the different ways bamboo could be used in construction here to create "Greener" construction, and minimize the use of some other building materials that are not so “Green”.


Special Problems:
▪ Can it live in our Climate?

▪ If so, would it need to be sheltered? If so, would it still be “Green”?

▪ If brought to British Columbia to farm, would bamboo be invasive?

▪ Would it need a lot of environmentally unsafe fertilizers?

▪ Would bamboo need a lot of water?

▪ Once mixed with glues, and other materials to create these building materials, would the overall product still be “Green”?


Also:
▪ Because a material is “Green” isn’t enough reason for someone to use it. What are some other reasons why bamboo should be used instead of other building materials, which are just as available?

▪ Should there be a cost comparison to some other building materials? Comparing wood flooring to bamboo flooring? (Manufacturer)

▪ How “Green” is bamboo compared to other popular materials? (Wood, Steel) Look at the specific characteristics of “Green” again.