The ecological benefits of using bamboo wood

We buy our bamboo from the Moso Bamboo Forrest in China.  Around a third of the Moso bamboo forest can be harvested every year without any negative effects on the forest.

Compared with other wood species, bamboo wood has a shorter growth cycle and stronger reproduction abilities despite the fact that bamboo grows without the help of fertilisers. Generally, the bamboo tree is mature enough to be cut after three years, whereas other fast growing species, such as eucalyptus and acacia, need 6-10 years to mature and the red pine and larch 10 years. Cutting the trees at a sustainable rate also does not create any soil degradation.

The mature Moso bamboo tree has the following favourable characteristics, low shrinkage, easy splitting, high elasticity and extreme toughness. The tensile and compression strength of mature Moso bamboo trees are 1,948kg/square centimetres and 640kg/square centimetres, respectively, which is 2.5 times and 1.5 times higher than the equivalent numbers for fir.

In addition, bamboo wood possesses several times more biomass than traditional hard or soft woods. Furthermore, bamboo requires only 0.02% of the energy resources (in mega-joules/m3) used by steel, 12% used by concrete and 40% used by lumber to obtain one unit of building material with an identical load capacity. It is the most ecological choice when it comes to building materials and it is gaining in popularity as a result of the sustainability trend in modern architecture.