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CITY Magazine • New York City • May/June 2002 • (continued) To help make that happen, Trudeau and his partners at Bamboo Technologies- a Maui- based eco-architecture firm- are creating a certification and inspection board to ensure streamlined bamboo production. “The goal is to create standardized procedures- from harvest to Home Depot- so people in design, construction, and zoning will take a look at it.” The certification process will allow bamboo to break out of its current “alternative” designation, and, for the first time in history, make it a viable lumber and design material for use around the world. “Someday,” says Trudeau,“ you’ll go to the hardware store and find posts, beams, paneling, plywood, fencing, all made of bamboo.” The certification board is expected to be recognized by the International Conference of Building Officials this July, and, in the meantime, bamboo’s proponents are making themselves market-ready.  Construction is completed on a 70,000 sq ft factory north of Saigon, owned by Seattle-based Bamboo Hardwoods, parent company of Bamboo Technologies. (Trudeau is a partner in both companies.) He recently visited the factory, where 130 pairs of skilled hands fasten bamboo into various products, including custom and pre-fabricated homes that are shipped around the world. “We have 70 prefab eco-resort buildings in Vietnam and 15 prefab homes in Hawaii,” says Trudeau. “We also make posts, beams, floors, furniture, and raw, milled bamboo. But our big thing is the homes. It costs about 25% less to buy and build a bamboo prefab than a typical home, and it goes from shipping container to completion in five days.”
Bamboo’s supporters quietly concede that it still suffers from a Don Ho-tiki-bar image, and it’s hard to reinvent, considering that’s been bamboo’s prevailing rep for the past 50 years. But the façade is changing with the introduction of products like pressed bamboo flooring. Constructed of laminated bamboo strips, the floors are popular and perfect in yoga studios, homes, and retail spaces. “Maple floors are beautiful, but they split and separate,” says McDonough. “Red oak is stable, but lacks the grain and color of maple. Bamboo, on the other hand, has the light blond color of maple, a nice texture, and the stability of red oak.”It can be naturally stained by steaming, a process that produces an amber hue without chemical additives. And the cost? “About the same per square foot as oak.” |
Most of the prefabs aren't suited to urban or cold-weather climates; they have Asian- style pitched roofs, woven bamboo walls, and look more appropriate for Bali than Boston. The gazebos, however, make excellent 3-season structures, and those with homes in warmer climes may find the prefabs an option. For city life, however, the focus is on interiors, furnishings, and composite materials.|
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