Bamboo House, Anyone?
By Paul McGinniss
So by now we’ve all heard about bamboo bowls and clothes and furniture and plants for landscaping. But have you ever thought about the possibility of building your entire house out of bamboo? I first discovered this concept on the great web site INHABITAT (http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/06/13/design-a-house-of-bamboo/), which co-organized the Greener Gadgets conference I wrote about for canvas in March 2008.
In 2004. Bamboo Technologies (http://www.bambootechnologies.com/bbhomes.htm) received confirmation from ICC Evaluation Service (http://www.icc-es.org/), a nonprofit, public-benefit corporation that does technical evaluations of building products, components, methods, and materials, that its structural bamboo poles used in it’s “Bamboo Living Homes” complies with the provisions of International Building Codes. This structural bamboo will be included in the International Building Code system for permitted buildings. This was the first time a species of bamboo has been approved as a structural building material in the International Building Code System.
The bamboo is harvested in Vietnam and the houses are manufactured there as well. The company states in a press release: “Prospective home buyers can choose from a range of prefabricated homes, studios, guest houses, vacation rentals, pavilions and gazebos. Bamboo home designs use many interchangeable parts and can readily be adapted, expanded, connected, disassembled or moved. Home buyers view online a gallery of home models and can select sizes, floor plans, options, costs, details and finishes, then preview steps and procedures to purchase a bamboo home at www.bambooliving.com.”
What’s more, Bamboo Technologies has an International Bamboo Building Design Competition (http://www.bamboocompetition.com/), which they bill as “An Architecture Design Competition of Structural Bamboo Buildings and Visionary Designs for Ecological Living.” In 2007, entrants from more than 64 countries entered the competition.
1 comment
Thanks Paul for the kind words.
Bamboo Technologies started as a dream many years ago to provide economical family structures from sustainable bamboo. It has evolved into a living reality for over 100 families - that’s how many homes we’ve delivered in the past few years since winning building code approval for our material and structures, all over the world.
Most of those structures were designed for tropical climates, which means that though they can withstand both hurricanes and earthquakes, they had only limited insulation. Even though such a structure would well serve as a permitted summer-only house out in your neck of the woods, we want folks to know that we have expanded our vision and now offer home kits that are fully insulated.
Take a look at our “North Shore” house, it’s a 32′x96′ rectangle. 3072 sqft one story house with 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, office, kitchen, living dining area and large covered lanai. A large 3 bedroom 3 bath family home with home office, prefect for Long Island! The comleted cost for this house built by a full service contractor is estimated at around $420,000 - that’s less than $150 per sq ft fully finished! Remember, these are complete house “kits” that assemble on your site in short order, so figure to save at least $100,000 if you yourself are the owner/builder.
http://www.bambootechnologies.com/homes/northshore/northshore.htm
And it’s never been more affordable to have a fully permitted, insurable and mortgageable Bamboo House. In an effort to expand our market, Bamboo Technologies is offering a deep discount to the first home builder in each of the 50 states that chooses to construct a Bamboo Living home, and since we’ve yet to build one in NY there’s a smart Long Island family out there who’s going to be the first. We welcome your inquiry and will support your quest for an affordable, intelligent and sustainable Bamboo Home on Long Island.
All the best!
Sam Small
VP, Developing Markets, Bamboo Technologies, Maui, Hawaii
(808) 572-1007
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