[Greenbuilding] Plybooboo

[Rob Tom]

On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:43:15 -0500, Lawrence Lile <LLile at projsolco.com>  
wrote:

> I am still convinced that there are many positive aspects to Bamboo, and  
> we should
> be experimenting with it enough that a US market develops and matures
> into US production.  Bamboo is a unique building material, and I'll keep
> working with it.

DANG!

And here I thought I was this >< close to unloading this $#!+-load of  
wooden pallets I've got stored in warehouses around the continent, on you  
unsuspecting Greenies. Ah well.

But (a little more) seriously, I agree that bamboo is a wonderful material  
and it has had an extensive use in building in other cultures where it is  
native.

In the past decade or so, it's also found favour amongst Green builders on  
this continent (SB builders in particular come to mind) and was even  
researched by the US Army Engineering Corps for its potential as a  
replacement for steel rebar in concrete back in the 1940's I think it was.

In all of the above though, the bamboo was utilised in its unprocessed  
form or at the very most, simply split along its length. Processing it  
into plyboo flooring is another thing entirely. We already have plenty of  
"weed" trees that can be milled into flooring a lot more easily than it is  
to do the same with bamboo.

And I do question the appropriateness of developing bamboo plantations  
over here to supply an artificially-developed US market.

The cultivation of fast-growing species is water-intensive ... and as it  
is, we Canadians are already looking nervously to the south in  
anticipation of the day in the not-too-distant future when thirsty  
Murricans are going to be sending troops up here to "stabilise" this  
country while searching for Weapons of Mass Distraction.

=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<A r c h i L o g i c   at  c h a f f y a h o o   dot   c a >
winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply