Engineered bamboo

Engineered bamboo is a set of composite products produced from bamboo. It is designed to be a replacement for wood^[1] or engineered wood, but is used only when high load bearing strength is not required^[2] because building standards for this type of use have not been agreed by regulatory bodies.^[3] Engineered bamboo comes in several different forms, including bamboo scrimber and laminated bamboo,^[4] which has three times the structural capacity as normal timber^[5] and is defined and regulated by the ASTM International Standards.^[6]

Engineered bamboo has been used as paneling, vehicle beds, concrete formworks,^[2] lightweight building construction^[7] and even for shelters after the 2004 tsunami.^[8] In comparison to the woods that have been traditionally used, a number of benefits and drawbacks have been identified. Lower cost, especially when replacing wood that would otherwise have been imported, is a key advantage.^[9] Further benefits include greater hardness and shape retention, especially in high temperatures.^[10]

However, bamboo is not as resilient as most woods and will decay more rapidly than other woods if not treated with preservatives.^[11]

New building methods have had to be developed for engineered bamboo as its properties are sufficiently different, and make normal wood-working methods used with (non-engineered) bamboo unsuitable.^[12]

In order to overcome the typical loss of strength bamboo incurs when bending takes place post-harvest, an alternative method to overcome this has been developed.

Pre-harvest bending of the bamboo stems in zig-zags, allows the bamboo to later form a Warren truss.^[13]

Alexander Vittouris has proposed a much simpler 2D S-bend shape, which—after harvesting, and in sufficient quantities—could be assembled into a variety of 3D shapes. The arboriculture technique used to make both shapes is similar to tree shaping, and result in parts similar to woodworking knees.^{[14][15][16][17]}