Bamboo
BamCore
CA, FL

If architects want to have any impact on the fight against climate change, bamboo must be a primary ingredient of our interventions. Sequestering carbon more effectively than wood while growing faster and producing stronger fibers than wood, bamboo is the Mass Grass to wood-based Mass Timber. Although its cultivation on an agricultural scale is rare in the US, bamboo imports from China, Southeast Asia, Central and South America represent millions of dollars of trade, and since native bamboo called rivercane used to be widespread on the East Coast, effort should be made to establish a domestic bamboo industry. BLDUS has visited dozens of small nurseries up and down the East Coast, but none is capable of producing bamboo fiber on an industrial scale. Like wood, bamboo can be used to manufacture thousands of products, and unlike wood, bamboo is also antimicrobial. Harnessing the sheer strength of bamboo, BamCore has created a hybrid bamboo-wood plywood panel that can be used to construct buildings with continuous insulation cavities and no studs–potentially the first major innovation in stick framing in a century. Eliminating studs means eliminating thermal bridges, improving a building’s thermal performance in the summer and winter. BamCore’s system is strong enough to build to 8 stories, durable enough for hurricane zones, and affordable to use to build single family and multifamily housing. In addition, products like flooring, furniture, lights, bathroom and kitchen accessories, and even clothes and tea can all contribute to a healthy carbon-capturing environment.