September/October 1984 RAIN Page 11 Local Resource Integrated Building System Bamboo as a Building Material As a building material, bamboo is flexible yet tough; it can be pliant or rigid, as the occasion demands; after heating, it can be bent to take and retain a new shape; and it can be split with ease-but only in one direction. As we recognize the diminishing of our fossil-fuel resources in the West and the depletion of our forests, wouldn't it make sense for our modern culture to take advantage of some of the wisdom of the ages in utilizing the remarkable bamboo plant? Thankfully, a few far-sighted groups ofpeople have been experimenting with bamboo as a building material in the U.S. for several years. (Please send self-addressed stamped envelopes with generous postage ifyou're requesting a reply from any of the sources listed below.) -Mary Vogel by Gail Vittori The use of bamboo as a building material spans scores of centuries and civilizations, and for good reason. A prolific plant species adapted to a surprisingly diverse array of climatic regimes, bamboo's applications range from water pipes to foundation reinforcement, from multi-story scaffolding to wallboard, trellises, fences. roof trusses and more (not to mention the delectable, edible bamboo shoots!). Find a society that has maintained its building techniques, living amid bamboo jungles, and you can be sure to discover bamboo being put to use in ways that will stagger the Western, 20th- century-biased senses. What has made and continues to make bamboo especially worthy of use is its remarkable melding of form and function, thereby pleasing both the artistic and utilitarian eye. Bamboo is revered for its beauty by many Eastern societies and religions, and also boasts a tensile strength of 28,000 pounds per square inch, better than that of steel, which averages about 23,000 pounds per square inch. Our work with bamboo at Max's Pot in Austin, Texas, has proven it to be a valuable component to community- oriented, low-cost housing and economic-development efforts, since it can represent a job multiplier of more than two times that of steel. If the bamboo is actually harvested in the community in which it is to be used, there are many more jobs associated with its use than simply transporting and installing. Harvesting bamboo, which should happen at a specific time in the plant's
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