What is Bamboo?
Bamboo is an ingenious natural building material that combines the compressive strength of concrete with the tensile strength of steel and also has a high flexural strength. In contrast to these conventional building materials, bamboo has a major advantage: It does not release carbon dioxide during the manufacturing process, but instead binds the greenhouse gas during the growth phase.
Bamboo – The new sustainability in house construction: the steel of the future.
The renewable raw material is already being used as a building material in architecture. Designers love its natural and pristine appearance and engineers appreciate its mechanical properties.
In the tropical climatic regions of Asia, Africa and Central and South America, it has been used for building houses for many centuries, and it is currently experiencing something of a renaissance in the Western world.
Bamboo is lighter and more elastic than wood, and when exposed to moisture, its swelling and shrinking behavior is significantly lower than that of oak, for example.
Guadua angustifolia – a giant bamboo grass, is the strongest species of bamboo, which can grow up to 30 meters high. The straight growth and extreme wall thickness make it a perfect building material.
Bamboo has such a high growth rate that it is the fastest growing plant.
Depending on the species, the final height is reached within weeks to months. This ranges from 15 cm to 40 m with a diameter of a few millimeters to 30 cm.
The robust grass withstands wind, rain and sun for many years. However, over time, the cane grays somewhat, and slight longitudinal cracking is also natural. A colorless protective coating is therefore recommended.
The bamboo cane can be harvested almost ready for use. Mostly hollow, bamboo consists of nodes, which are knots. The outer fibers are extremely dense and hard and usually very smooth, rather lacquer-like. This represents a protection of the bamboo plant from damage by insects.
Bamboo can be split lengthwise indefinitely and is a great material for making baskets and other wickerwork.
Since the elasticity of bamboo is very high, the building material is popular in earthquake zones areas.
Bamboo is combustible but flame retardant because the outer zone of the cane is extremely dense and highly siliceous.
The bamboo canes used outdoors must not come into direct contact with the ground, otherwise they can absorb water and rot.
Bamboo has a wide variety of uses. In addition to its constructional applications, it is nowadays used for the production of furniture, food, charcoal and textiles, among other things.