Engineered Bamboo: Environment Friendly Solution to our Housing Needs

A new product is being developed that is made of bamboo, which can replace the construction materials made of hard lumber from our forests. The product is called engineered bamboo. And as its name implies there is a process done to the typical bamboo poles to turn them into construction materials that are as durable and long lasting as lumber from our forests.

As part of my work of financing SMEs with promising and profitable products and services, I have come across several proponents looking for equity financing for their engineered bamboo projects.

From my initial appraisal of the product, I would say that it looks exciting and if proven successful can become a very profitable domestic and export industry of the country.

First, bamboo is not a tree, it is a grass. Cutting them will not present any environmental problems compared to cutting trees in the forest.  Second, bamboo can be cultured and can grow almost anywhere in the Philippines.  Third, it is a hardy and perennial plant and can be established easily and replenish itself in a shorter time than trees. You can harvest poles from a short time of 3 to 6 year cycle.

The technology used to produce engineered bamboo is simple and a combination of practical physics and chemistry. First, large bamboo poles are shredded into strips and configured according to the size and shape ( dimension of the lumber material) required or desired by the producer. Once the matrix for the required dimension is built or configured, low viscosity (VOC) resin is added into the configured bamboo strips and placed in a hydraulic press which compresses the bamboo at several thousand of pounds of force.

The compressed bamboo is allowed to stay that way until the resin is completely dry and then removed from being pressed.  The resulting product is a dense block of bamboo that is nearly indestructible.

It is subsequently milled and sanded into what is popularly known as bamboo lumber or engineered bamboo.

The block of compressed bamboo could be made into different dimensions as required by the construction industry. It could be made into ply boards, posts, and other wooden construction material. You can even build an entire house from engineered bamboo.

Already, bamboo is a commodity that is considered a notable and significant plant in the Southeast Asia region, being popular as raw material for homes, handicrafts, furniture, and food; the young shoots are harvested and used as a vegetable in many areas of the region. But with engineered bamboo, we now have a material that can substitute for hard lumber, and can meet man’s appetite and demand for wood.

What about its durability and strength? And questions regarding its resistance to wood louse and other insects that dig and gnaw on bamboo and other wood? 

According to those who have experience using engineered bamboo, they claim that it is hard as Oak, and is actually resistant to insects that feed on wood. As to its resistance to insects, fully matured bamboo is not palatable to the insects, it’s the young and immature poles that are attacked and serves as insect food. So the key to its durability is to use only matured bamboo poles when manufacturing engineered bamboo.

A bamboo blog site http://www.bamboogrove.com/blog /has these to say about bamboo as construction material:

·        It takes an acre of hardwood forest to build an average house; it takes only a quarter of an acre to build the same house;

·        It will take 40 years to regenerate the hardwood forest; it takes only a year for an acre of a  bamboo forest to regenerate;

·        Ounce for ounce, bamboo is stronger than wood, brick, or concrete;

·        It is a fast growing species---can grow a yard per day;

·        Highest tensile strength than most grades of steel (withstanding 52,000 lbs. of pressure PSI and weight to strength ratio surpassing graphite)

·        A house made of bamboo is earthquake proof.

One anecdote I read extolling the benefits of using engineered bamboo is about a demolition expert who was asked about which house was most difficult to demolish? Not steel, not concrete, not hard lumber----yes, you guessed it, a bamboo house.

In the Philippines, the countryside is abuzz about engineered bamboo. It has been identified by the country’s Department of Trade and Industry as one of its products under its OTOP (One Town; One Product Program), and some regions are already laying the groundwork for its development as an industry. As I write this article, bamboo plantations are being established. Engineered bamboo projects can be found in Iloilo, Nueva Ecija, Cordillera, Abra, and regions where bamboos are found to be part of the natural landscape.

It is about time, the country develop this natural resource that could prove to be the savior of our forests. As it develops, I see a reduction in the cost of engineered bamboo and housing will be more affordable, even for the poor.