Sustainable structures: bamboo standards and building codes

Abstract

The investigation of natural products for use in construction continues to grow to fulfil the need for sustainable and locally available materials. Bamboo, being globally available and rapidly renewable, is an example of such a material. Structural and engineered bamboo products are comparatively low-energy-intensive materials with structural properties sufficient for the demands of modern construction. However, the lack of appropriate building codes and standards is a barrier to engineers and architects in using the material. This paper describes the existing national and international codes and looks towards the future development of comprehensive standards directly analogous to those in use for timber.