Can bamboo become a sustainable building material in Australia?

Bamboo grows rapidly, maturing within 5 to 9 years to a hard, timber-like material that can regenerate within the lifespan of most building products. It therefore has the potential to be a renewable resource for use in the construction industry.

This paper discusses the benefits of bamboo in construction and land restoration, its role in the circular economy, and its contribution in carbon reduction. There is an International Organisation of Standardisation Standard for the design of bamboo structures made from natural round-form bamboo, which is supported by other standards in the grading and test methods for bamboo. A number of countries, including Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru have also included the natural-round form bamboo in their Building Codes. In addition, China and India have developed codes and standards for natural roundform and engineered bamboo, and ASTM International have now added laminated veneer bamboo to their specification for the evaluation of structural composite lumber products. Those countries that have used bamboo for structural purposes have developed suitable trade skills and construction methodologies. At the same time, the use of bamboo for construction use is not well known in Australia.

This paper identifies the underlying factors with respect to why bamboo is not often considered as a building material suitable for permanent structures. It is based on a literature review and research of the bamboo industry in Australia. Based on the research, it can be concluded that using bamboo as a building material is mainly dependent on a number of factors, such as the experience of previous generations, evaluation of its performance during disasters, intuition of builders, and from the practices use its treatment and preservation. This paper also outlines a strategy and further research required to better establish bamboo as a viable design and construction material for permanent structures.