Building with Bamboo

By Noel Morata

Of the fastest-growing and reusable materials, bamboo is becoming a viable building material to be utilized in a tropical environment.

David Sands is one of those passionate individuals who advocates and evangelizes the use of bamboo for constructing bamboo homes, especially here in Hawai‘i. “Bamboo use in homes is starting to become more noticed and is a fantastic green alternative to conventionally built homes, especially on the Big Island,” says Sands, the chief architect of Bamboo Living, a sustainable green builder and manufacturer based in Maui. The company has been designing and building panelized homes made of renewable bamboo for the past15 years.

Getting bamboo approved as a building material has been a very intensive and lengthy process in the United States. “It was a 10-year commitment and a labor of Love,” Sands says. His company spent more than $500,000 just for testing and to get just one species of bamboo accepted into the UCC Building Code.

Ed Smay and Ralph Brydges are proud owners of a beautiful bamboo home located in Orchidland in the Puna District. Their home exudes a real natural touch and affinity for the ‘aina.

“When Ralph was searching online for alternative types of structures, he discovered bamboo homes and Bamboo Living in Maui,” says Ed. “We initially visited Maui to see some of the model homes and were impressed with the quality and look of these tropically-inspired homes and knew that this is what we wanted.” Every detail of the two main pavilions, the covered bridge connecting the pavilions, the large centerpiece kitchen and counter, and every fixture were carefully chosen to create this cohesive look. A unique and well-appointed outdoor shower pavilion located next to the master suite is another design feature with pebbled floors and curtains to provide total, open-air privacy.

“We planned this home for a very long time and we love it,” says Ed. “We are completely off-grid, we use solar panels and batteries, and we are starting to plant fruit trees and getting a vegetable garden going,” he says, proud of their sustainable lifestyle.

The bamboo home manufacturer first constructs the homes in Vietnam, then disassembles it into panels and ships to the buyer’s home site. The major parts of the construction and finish materials are made completely of bamboo, which is the structural bamboo, bambusa stenostachya, a building material approved in Hawai‘i.

Since the homes are mostly pre-built into panels in Vietnam, the rebuilding process is relatively quick, with the exception of the foundation set-up and the finishing details. With an experienced crew, reassembly of the shell using a crane can be done in an average of two to seven days or less depending on the size and square footage of each home. The rest of the detailed electric, plumbing and finish work takes a standard building timeframe to complete.

The cost of building these homes and shipping them onsite would be comparable to a custom-made home here in Hawai‘i, just a little bit higher in cost per square foot than a standard HPM or other kit home, Sands states. “But for this cost, you get a unique and quality built home with the knowledge that each structure has been built with the latest of new, green living standards and sustainable lifestyle.”

To date, more than 100 of these bamboo homes have been completed and shipped to their various locations within Hawai‘i. Of those homes, 15 have been built and located on Hawai‘i Island.

One of Sands’ long-term goals is to see bamboo grown here in Hawai‘i for use in building homes.

The Hawai‘i Bamboo Society is also advocating using local bamboo as a building material. “We’re trying to get various bamboo species approved for building homes here in Hawai‘i” says Donna Manion, vice president of the Hawai‘i Bamboo Society. “The process is very time consuming and slow, it is very expensive to set up and it takes a lot of dedication. We are a very determined organization, and we want to make locally-grown bamboo available for use as an approved building material.” Even though the process has been slow and difficult, she says they are effectively working through all the red tape and making progress in getting those certifications.

A very active organization on Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i Bamboo Society members are growing a variety of bamboo that will be suitable for use in furniture and home building. Now their main emphasis is on education and outreach, and also working with the regulatory agencies to get some viable species of bamboo approved through the UCC.

“Once some of the bamboo species are approved,” says Manion, “our members can then market bamboo as a viable green, alternative building material. This will hopefully spur a new green industry in Hawai‘i and even export this back to the mainland.”

To learn more about the Hawai‘i Bamboo Society, visit its web site at www.americanbamboo.org. The Society will be having a special event this September 12th from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 pm at Papaiko Hongwanji. The event will showcase exhibits, demos, vendors, plant sales, recipe contests, arts and crafts and more. Free admission to help celebrate all things bamboo! ❖

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Email Noel Morata at emorata@yahoo.com. Visit his blog, “A Sari-Sari Life–Hawaiian Style” at noelmorata.blogspot.com.