In Bali, Bamboo Is the Bricks and Mortar

SIBANG, INDONESIA — When Macarena Chiriboga came to Bali in 2009, she had just finished a master’s degree in architecture in the United States, doing her thesis on the use of bamboo as a building material.

The trip was meant to be a vacation. But drawn by the unusual architecture of a school on the island — the Green School, whose buildings are all made from bamboo — she was soon back, and is now designing buildings for a “green village” being built by the developer Ibuku International about an hour’s drive from the Indonesian island’s beaches.

With Effan Adhiwira, a 28-year-old Indonesian who is senior architect and also oversees construction at Green School, the Ibuku team is creating a collection of structures that look more like treehouses and pirate ships than luxury villas.

But they are actually luxury villas. Perched on huge bamboo poles, and overshadowed by lush green jungle on the edge of the rock-strewn Ayung River, they have multiple, verandah-like levels, beautifully designed kitchens and bathrooms, and very few walls.

“People tend to have this assumption that luxury is all about air-conditioning and technology, about owning a big car — but luxury can also be about feeling the wind blow right through your house, being in contact with nature and walking around barefoot in your home,” said Ms. Chiriboga, 26. “These houses are all about allowing people to realize their dream of sustainable living, of experiencing a whole different lifestyle.”

Three dozen buildings will ultimately form the “Green Village,” which is going up on three hectares, or almost 7.5 acres, of land. Giant, 18-meter, or 59-foot, poles, each about 25 centimeters, or nearly a foot, wide, support the roofs and several layers of open-plan floors. Some jut out, mast-like, at odd angles. Smaller, slimmer poles form open-sided stairs that lead from one platform-like level to the next — three or four in each house.

The flooring, the roofs, the banisters that fence in the terrace-like living spaces, but leave the sides open — everything is made of bamboo, lightweight, bendable, super-tensile and specially treated to protect it from the ravages of insects and humidity.

There’s hardly a right angle in sight. Curves and gentle bends rule. “We’re taking bamboo to a different level,” said Ms. Chiriboga, who is from Ecuador. “Where I come from, in South America, bamboo is seen as a poor man’s material. If you’re rich, you won’t use it to build a house. When I show people pictures of what we’re doing here, they are amazed. They never thought you could do these things with bamboo.”

Each of the houses is unique, fitted around the plot on which it is built, said Elora Hardy, creative director at Ibuku. There was no need to bulldoze the jungle, dig foundations and build retaining walls: The structures simply rest on poles anchored in the rock, contouring around their part of the steep river bank.

Each is to some extent tailored to the buyer’s special wishes: Want an open-plan office-cum-media room? Or two rather than three bedrooms? An extra guest bathroom? But, of course.

“It’s like building a super yacht, made to measure, in the middle of the jungle,” said Peter Wrathall, commercial director at Ibuku. At a cost of $225,000 to $750,000 each, the buildings are drawing interest from around the world, he said.

Indonesia as a whole, and Bali in particular, has become increasingly popular with foreign investors, drawn by the country’s friendly climate and buoyant economy. Foreigners cannot own land or houses directly in their own name in the country but it is possible, and common, for them to arrange ownership through local nominees or surrogates. Another option is to acquire long-term leases of as long as 25 years, which can be transferable and extendable, and are thus an attractive alternative, Mr. Wrathall said.

Possibly the most unusual aspect of the Ibuku houses — apart from the fact that they are 98 percent bamboo — is that their sides are largely open to the elements.

Beneath the canopy-like roofs, which are in turn overshadowed by the jungle, there are only floors and the bamboo support pillars. The houses have 150 to 300 square meters, or 1,615 to 3,230 square feet, of living space, but no walls, no windows.

That may sound unbearably hot and steamy, but there generally is a gentle breeze blowing through the structures.

Buyers can opt to have parts of their houses enclosed — with bamboo walls — so the areas can be cooled and dehumidified. But most areas are free of energy-guzzling air-conditioning and costly insulation materials. Ibuku also plans to take the whole “village” off Bali’s electric grid, providing power from biomass, the energy given off by decaying natural materials — all in line with the green, environmentalist philosophy that pervades the development.

(Read full article)

(Excerpt of article by Bettina Wassener of the New York Times. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

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In Africa’s Vanishing Forests, the Benefits of Bamboo

Posted: 3/13/12

In the district of Asosa, the land is thick with bamboo. People plant it and manage the forests. They rely on its soil-grabbing roots to stabilize steep slopes and riverbanks, cutting erosion. They harvest it to burn for fuel, to make into charcoal sticks to sell to city dwellers and to build furniture.

Asosa is not in China, not even in Asia. It is a district in the west of Ethiopia, on the Sudanese border. To many people, bamboo means China. But it’s not just panda food — mountain gorillas in Rwanda also live on bamboo. About 4 percent of Africa’s forest cover is bamboo.

Soon it may be much more. Bamboo may provide a solution to a very serious problem: deforestation. In sub-Saharan Africa, 70 percent of the people cook their meals over wood fires. The very poorest cut down trees for cooking fuel; those slightly less poor buy charcoal made from wood in those same forests. Every year Africa loses forest cover equal to the size of Switzerland. Terence Sunderland, a senior scientist at the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, said that in southern Africa, even trees that can be used for fine carving, such as ebony and rosewood, are being cut down and made into charcoal.

Deforestation starts a vicious circle of drought and environmental decline. Burning wood releases the carbon stored inside. And deforestation accounts for at least a fifth of all carbon emissions globally. As tree cover vanishes, the land dries out and the soil erodes and becomes barren — a major reason for Ethiopia’s periodic famines.

Reliance on hardwood fuel poses more present dangers as well. It’s a woman’s job to collect firewood, and when trees are scarce, women must walk farther and farther to find it, an often dangerous journey.

Much cooking, moreover, is done indoors. The resulting air pollution kills some two million people a year. Almost half the deaths are from pneumonia in children under 5. Bamboo and charcoal made from bamboo burn more efficiently and cleanly than wood and wood charcoal

Sunderland is talking to several southern African governments about bamboo. Farther north, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, a membership organization of 38 countries based in Beijing, is providing technical support for growing and using bamboo in Ghana and Ethiopia.

How does bamboo improve on hardwood? Cut down a hardwood tree and it’s gone. It will take several decades for another to grow in its place; it can take a century for a forest to grow back after cutting. But bamboo is a grass, not a tree. Under the right conditions, it can grow a full meter a day — you can literally watch it grow. It is also fast maturing. A new bamboo plant is mature enough to harvest after three to six years, depending on the species. Most important, bamboo is renewable. Unlike hardwood trees, bamboo regrows after harvesting, just as grass regrows after cutting. After it is mature, bamboo can be harvested every single year for the life of the plant.

Bamboo has other advantages. Its roots grab onto soil and hold it fast. Plant bamboo on a steep slope or riverbank and it prevents mudslides and erosion. And bamboo is parsimonious with Africa’s most precious resource: water.

“In Africa you want everything,” said Dr. Chin Ong, a retired professor of environmental science at the University of Nottingham in England, who was formerly a senior scientist at the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi. “You want firewood, you want to reduce erosion, to maintain the water supply, generate cash and employment. Bamboo comes the closest — it gives you the most things.”

Because bamboo requires few nutrients, it can grow in soil inhospitable to other plants — not only does it thrive there, it can reclaim the land so other plants can thrive, too. Its roots leach heavy metals from the soil, hold the soil together and draw water closer to the surface. One example is a project in Allahabad, India, to reclaim land whose topsoil had been depleted by the brick industry. In 1996, an INBAR project planted the land with bamboo. Five years later, villagers could farm the land again. Dust storms — a local scourge — were greatly reduced. The bamboo also helped raise the water table by seven meters. In 2007, the project won the global Alcan Prize for Sustainability.

(Read full article)

(Excerpt of article by Tina Rosenberg of the New York Times. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

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Pier 1 Imports taking advantage of Lamboo's high performance products

Pier 1 Imports in a mission of building high quality sustainable facilities has chosen Lamboo for refits and new construction of U.S. stores using Lamboo awning and door systems. With the highly renewable resource of bamboo, Pier 1 is staying environmentally responsible through the use of Lamboo products while ensuring that their stores will not only have long lasting stable systems, but will also stay aesthetically pleasing for their customers.

ImageOne Industries is utilizing the LAMBOO® ELEMENTS™ series in the Pier 1 awnings systems. These exterior grade components and panels feature proprietary manufacturing processes & bonding agents to resist moisture and last throughout harsh environments. These components are on average 20% more stable than hardwoods and up to 40% more stable than softwoods such as pine or douglas fir. Lamboo products attain all low V.O.C. guidelines by LEED (USGBC) and do not produce off-gassing in production or application. 

Kolbe Windows & Doors is using the LAMBOO® VUE™ series to develop and install long lasting door systems for Pier 1. Lamboo Inc. as the leader in the technologies and manufacturing of performance based engineered bamboo, will be providing these components designed specifically for the window and door systems of Pier 1. LAMBOO® VUE™ components have great thermal properties, strength, durability, and contain water resistant attributes that make it ideal for this project's requirements of high performance with superior aesthetics.

Lamboo is pleased to work with Pier 1 Imports as well as collaborating with other major retailers and companies that have initiatives to establish strong and environmentally friendly systems.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

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Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Lamboo, Inc. launches the latest innovation in engineered bamboo for tabletops and countertops market.

Lamboo® Technologies latest innovation in engineered bamboo now offers Lamboo® Surface™ to its Design™ Series product line. Lamboo® Surface™ is focused on integrating performance, sustainability, and aesthetics to the tabletop and counter top markets.  Lamboo® Surface™ products will be the perfect solution to visionary architects and designers wanting to replace traditional hardwoods, petroleum based, and synthetic materials with innovation and sustainable solutions.  

 

Lamboo® Surface™ material is a naturally anti-microbial product which makes this products ideal for tabletop and countertop applications. "We would like to provide an innovative solution to the common products used in the tabletop and component industries. We believe that this product line is the solution for designers and architects willing to promote sustainability and innovation.” Says V.P. of Operations, Jeran Hammann. The very nature of Lamboo® Surface™ products exemplify our values to be a force for positive change and our commitment to long term environmental, social, and economic benefits for all of our communities. 

 

The Lamboo® Surface™ collection reaches both commercial and residential applications. Some of the applications are as follows:

• Tabletops
• Countertops
• Reception desks
• Shelving
• Tables and desks
• Conference tables

 

In addition to our commitment to innovation in sustainable design practices Lamboo is focused on operations that surpass ethical standards in the industry.  Lamboo, Inc. meets BBB accreditation standards, and strives to maintain good faith both with stakeholders and consumers.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Congressman gets a close look at ‘green’ entrepreneurs

Posted: 04/06/2012 6:30 AM

Congressman Bobby Schilling, R-Colona, toured the Sustainable Business Center, in Galesburg Illinois, Thursday and voiced his support for the concept of “green companies” operated by entrepreneurs.

“Green to me is red, white and blue,” the congressman said. “It is not a Republican or a Democrat issue, it’s an American issue.”

While not an official celebration of the anniversary, the SBC is just more than a year old. Schilling not only was impressed by the facility and the entrepreneurs whose companies are beginning to fill it, he had kind words for the Galesburg area and its workforce.

“With all the hardships that happened here in Galesburg over a period of years, Galesburg has prepared to bounce back quite readily,” he said.

Lamboo founder and CEO Luke Schuette added. “We’re going to be doubling our capacity here”

The founder of the Springfield-based company specializing in the manufacture of engineered bamboo for structural, architectural and industrial applications said four more people will be hired here for distribution and fabrication work. Schuette said Lamboo also is launching its bamboo Surface™ table tops and countertops in conjunction with Redbud Ridge Custom Shop in Bartonville.

“Redbud is going to be hiring two people,” he said.

In addition, Schuette said bamboo has been added as a certified product to the International Building Code, something the company has been working on since 2007 and seen as a key to further expansion. He said Lamboo is completing distributorship agreements in Australia, Switzerland and Germany, as well continuing development of the Lamboo series of Fender guitars. Other expansions into Vietnam and possibly Panama in the future to acquire bamboo are part of the growing company’s many projects.

“Galesburg is a very important piece of the puzzle,” Schuette said.

(Excerpt of article by John Pulliam of House of Register-Mail. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO INC.)

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Booming bamboo: The next super-material?

Bamboo is being hailed as a new super material, with uses ranging from textiles to construction. It also has the potential to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, the biggest greenhouse gas, and provide some of the world's poorest people with cash. 

Bamboo's image is undergoing a transformation. Some now call it "the timber of the 21st Century". Today you can buy a pair of bamboo socks or use it as a fully load-bearing structural beam in your house - and it is said that there are some 1,500 uses for it in between.

There is a rapidly growing recognition of the ways in which bamboo can serve us as consumers and also help to save the planet from the effects of climate change because of its unrivaled capacity to capture carbon. "From the field and the forest to the factory and the merchant, from the design studio to the laboratory, from the universities to those in political power, people are more and more aware of this potentially renewable resource," says Michael Abadie, who took up the presidency of the World Bamboo Organization last year.

"In the last decade, bamboo has become a major economic crop," Abadie continues.

New technologies and ways of industrially processing bamboo have made a big difference, enabling it to begin to compete effectively with wood products for Western markets.

It is estimated that the world bamboo market stands at around $10bn (£6.24bn) today, and the World Bamboo Organization says it could double in five years.

The developing world is now embracing this potential growth.

In eastern Nicaragua, bamboo was until recently regarded by most of the local population as valueless - more as a nuisance to be cleared than a boon to them and their region. But on land that was once under dense forest cover, then turned over to slash-and-burn agriculture and ranching, new bamboo plantations are rising.

This is the world's fastest growing plant, ready to be harvested annually and sustainably after four to five years in contrast to the typical tropical hardwood that takes many years longer to mature and can be harvested only once.

The investment in bamboo is having a positive effect on local plantation workers, providing paid employment for people, including women, many of whom were previously jobless, or for men who once had to travel to Costa Rica to find work.

There is long way to go before the grasses now being nurtured in Nicaragua - for technically bamboo is a member of the grass family - can safely be described as the timber of the 21st Century - and the key plant in a more sustainable future for forestry and therefore for the world.

But, for now at least, bamboo is definitely booming.

Read More

(Excerpt of article by Mike Wooldridge of BBC News. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO INC.)

 

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Energy Efficiency Bill Would Encourage Vendors to Bid on Projects

Lawmakers are trying to craft fixes to a program to help local and state governments save taxpayer money by reducing how much energy they use. But whether the changes go far enough is a matter of dispute -- even among the proposal's proponents.

The bill (S-1753) aims to overhaul the Energy Savings Improvement Program, which advocates say could save hundreds of millions of dollars for governments if impediments discouraging energy companies from participating in the effort were removed.

Without giving these companies more flexibility in deciding who actually performs the energy efficiency work, they will never invest in long-term contracts that guarantee energy savings, according to some who have followed the bill through the legislature.

The original law, approved more than three years ago, was designed to allow government entities to enter into performance-based contracts with energy service companies, enabling them to cut energy use without any capital expenditures. The agencies pay off the projects over a 15- to 20-year period through the energy savings they capture, which can run as much as 25 percent.

Among other things, the bill moving through the legislature, would eliminate a requirement that state contracts be awarded to the lowest bidder. Instead, it would allow contracts to be awarded on a basis of best value, a standard that would allow New Jersey to award deals based on which bids provide the greatest energy savings.

“There are literally hundreds of millions of dollars of projects that can be done,’’ said Steve Goldenberg, an energy lawyer who has been pushing for changes in the law.

According to studies the typical U.S. family spends about $1,900 a year on utility bills, a large portion of which is waste. Homeowners lose an estimated $40 of every $100 spent on heating and cooling to leakage alone.

Read More

(Excerpt of article posted by Tom Johnson, March 27, 2012 in  the Energy & Environment news section of NJ Spotlight. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO INC.)

Economic and environmental concerns are forcing dramatic changes in regulation in governments all across the world in how resources are used and managed. Weaknesses in the current system are being exposed leading to debate on how to build a sustainable future for our society. Rising energy costs combined with decreasing resources and devastating climate changes are creating a need for more efficient processes. Through the rapidly renewable resource of bamboo, Lamboo is creating energy efficient systems and products to meet future demand. Every aspect of bamboo makes it ideal for a future where sustainability and performance must both be maintained.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

International Interest Grows in Green-Building Certification

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Last month, the new U.S. Embassy compound in Madagascar, which includes high-efficiency windows and low-flow toilets, received certification as a green building. Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, also earned a green stamp of approval recently, as did the Seoul Finance Center in South Korea.

As companies and governments look to burnish their environmental credentials around the world, many are devoting extra time and money to certifying their buildings as green. The buildings in Madagascar, Taipei and Seoul are among those that have turned to a U.S.-based process called LEED, short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which offers third-party verification. Other green-building standards, like the British-based BREEAM and DGNB in Germany, are also spreading outside their home countries.

Green-building certification is “becoming accepted as a badge of genuine quality,” said Raphael Sperry, a senior consultant with Simon & Associates Green Building Consultants in San Francisco, who is LEED-accredited in his profession. International tenants in particular, he noted, may seek out buildings with recognized green stamps, which should mean low bills for energy and water and a pleasant working environment.

Scot Horst, the senior vice president for LEED at the U.S. Green Building Council, the Washington-based group that administers the certification program, cited a “dramatic uptick” in international interest.

      Read entire article

 (Excerpt taken from The New York Times Green Column Author Kate Galbraith  March 2012)

Reports are published everyday that reinforce the importance of sustainable development and how critical of an era we live in today. In order to build a better future there must be better practices put in to place that will benefit society while limiting environmental impact. Lamboo technologies is answering this call with engineered laminated bamboo materials, a product that is rapidly renewable and incredibly strong and durable. Lamboo strives to be a leading innovator in sustainable products with certifications like LEED credits to meet future design needs. 

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our

website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Lamboo & Arnold Companies

Lamboo is proud to partner with Arnold Companies to offer products through our Lamboo® Design™ Series. The Arnold Companies represent four independent contract furniture manufacturers that have been serving the design and corporate community since 1962. Arnold companies offer a highly versatile line of quality products with applications ideal for our engineered laminated bamboo materials.

Their primary products include:

• Conference room furniture
• Cabinets
• Desks
• Commercial
• Residential
• Reception desks
• Workstations 
• Modular courtroom furniture
• Library furniture
• Shelving
• Circulation desks
• Bookcases
  
  

Lamboo is committed to maintaining the level of high excellence that is synonymous with Arnold Companies products, with the rapidly renewable resource of bamboo. The engineered components will ensure that Arnold products are not only long lasting and durable but pleasing to the eye as well.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our
website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated

'Peak timber' concerns in tropics

Current tropical timber practices are not sustainable and nations should consider the "implications of 'peak timber'", a study has suggested.

A team of researchers says the standard cutting cycle of 30-40 years is too short to allow trees to grow to a volume required by commercial loggers.
As a result, they add, the pressure to harvest primary forests will continue, leading to ongoing deforestation.
The findings have been published in the journal Biological Conservation.
The scientists used logging on the Solomon Islands as an example because it was, in some respects, "a microcosm of the challenges facing sustainable forest management in the tropics".
They said the industry had been a major source of government revenue for a number of years.
Yet, they added: "For nearly a decade, the nation had been warned that the volume of timber annually harvested from native forests was too high and, if unchecked, that timber stocks would be seriously depleted by 2012.
"In 2009, the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands asserted that (the) exhaustion of timber stocks had arrived even earlier that predicted and its economic consequences were likely to be severe."

 

(Tropical timber production exceeds forests' ability to replace the felled trees, the study says)

Pushing the limit

The team - made up by Dr Phil Shearman and Jane Bryan from the Australian National University, and Prof William Laurance from James Cook University, Australia - said the trajectory of the country's timber production (a rapid increase in production, followed by a peak and then a decline) was akin to the 'Hubbert curve', which has been observed in the exploitation of non-renewable resources, such as oil.
"It is occurring in the Solomons because timber extraction has occurred at a rate far in excess of the capacity of the forests to regenerate commercial timber stocks," they wrote.
The researchers suggested that there were three main factors that made it difficult to find examples of sustainable forestry in the tropics:

• Low level of marketable timber production - many tree species having unsuitable wood properties, and the slow growth rate of commercially viable specimens is another factor
• Collateral damage - while logging in the tropics tends to focus on a small fraction of the trees, many others are damaged or killed as a result of the network of access roads to the area being logged
• Second-wave clearance - the "labyrinths of logging roads have opened up vast swaths... for colonisation, hunting, illegal mining and other destructive activities"

As well as these factors, the problem of illegal logging was also threatening primary forest cover in many nations.

(Deforestation accounts for up to 20% of annual greenhouse gas emissions from human activities)

The team concluded with a stark warning: "Unless something fundamental changes... we believe that logged tropical forests will continue to be over-harvested and, far too frequently, cleared afterwards, leading to an inevitable global decline in native timber supplies.
"It has become common these days to speak of 'peak oil'. In the tropics, we assert, we should also begin to seriously consider the implications of 'peak timber'."

(Excerpt from BBC News reporter Mark Kinver)

The environmental and economic challenges brought about by the production of timber is something that cannot be ignored. The exhaustion of natural resources such as timber leaves a void that needs to be addressed with sustainable alternatives. 

Bamboo, reaching maturity in 4 years and not requiring replanting is one of options that will be ever increasingly looked upon as timber resources decline.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our
website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us

"MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD" - Lamboo Incorporated